A new beginning
by DahliaRose83
Summary: Damon and Jeremy did it. Alaric an Anna are back from the dead. But once back in Mystic Falls new Problems arise and relationships are put to the test. - Sequel to "Anything for love".
1. Chapter 1

Over a year ago I promised a Sequel to my Story "Anything for love". Now I finally started writing one. Sorry for the delay.

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A new beginning

It was way past midnight and the streets of Mystic Falls were completely deserted. The lights in the houses were off, giving the small town an almost eerie atmosphere. Damon parked his car in front of the boarding house and glanced over his shoulder. Jeremy and Anna were curled up together in the back seat, both fast asleep. "We should all spend the night here." the dark haired vampire murmured. "Probably a good idea." Alaric agreed next to him and just hearing his voice sent shivers down Damon´s spine.

He had really done it. When he`d woken up this morning he almost thought it had just been a dream. But then he had felt the two strong arms wrapped around himself, had smelled the scent that was distinctly Alaric, even if it was a little different now as a vampire. He had really wanted to give Ric a proper wake up call, but had to behave himself, because of the two teenagers sleeping in the bed next to theirs. Driving home had taken forever, but every time Ric had suggested spending the night at a motel and continuing in the morning, Damon had declined. He hadn`t wanted to spend another night cooped up in a room with Jeremy and Anna, who were so sickeningly sweet it made his teeth hurt and who kept him from finally doing what he had wanted so long with Ric.

"I`ll wake the two lovebirds." the new vampire announced, startling Damon out of his musings. He got out of the car and watched Ric, who lightly shook Jeremy`s shoulder. "We`ll spend the night at the boarding house." he explained and Jeremy nodded, probably glad he didn`t have to face his sister right now. Damon knew they had a lot of explaining to do, especially concerning Ric`s resurrection. He wasn`t looking forward to those conversations. But he would worry about that later. Much later.

When Jeremy and Anna had finally crawled out of the car as well, the four of them made their way to the door and Damon ushered them in. "Just pick one of the spare bedrooms upstairs." he told the teens, before turning to Alaric. "If I remember correctly you promised me something." He could see the former teacher`s eyes darken and wanted nothing more than to get him upstairs and into his bed. The moment however was interrupted when a shrill scream pierced the night.

Damon whirled around to find Elena standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking at them in horror. Stefan was at her side in a flash, his eyes darting from Elena to Damon and Alaric in shock and the dark haired vampire groaned. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were staying at the Gilbert home." His younger brother looked at him like he`d lost his mind. "What we are...? What are you doing, Damon? What did you do?! How..." Stefan`s tirade was cut off by Elena, who took a hesitant step forward and whispered: "Ric?"

"It`s really me." the former teacher assured and gasped in surprise when she threw herself into his arms and started sobbing. He patted her back awkwardly and looked to Damon for help. Great. This was not going like the dark haired vampire had wanted. His stupid brother and his stupid brother`s equally stupid girlfriend were completely ruining his plans.

Frowning he stalked over and pried Elena away from his soon-to-be-lover. Very soon, if he had any say in it. "Yes, Ric is alive again and he´s happy to see you, too. And look over there, I brought Jeremy back in one piece, just like I promised." he turned Elena towards her brother, wincing at her shocked gasp when she spied Anna. Damn, should have thought of that. "But now it´s late. School tomorrow and all that. And we`re really tired from the trip. So why don`t we all just go to bed now and talk in the morning, huh?"

Without giving Elena a chance to reply he pushed her towards Stefan, grabbed Alaric`s hand and practically dragged him upstairs and into his bedroom. "That was rude, even for you. She just..." Rolling his eyes Damon cut Ric`s protest off with a heated kiss, pushing him against the closed door. "I don`t care. I want you. Now. I`ve waited too long and no matter what you say, waiting yet another night will kill me." the dark haired vampire growled, his fingers fumbling with the buttons on the other vampire`s shirt. Alaric chuckled. "Now, we can`t let that happen, can we?" he whispered, claiming Damon´s lips in a kiss again.

Damon gave up on the buttons and just tore the shirt right off Ric`s shoulders, a little surprised when the former teacher didn`t even protest, but retaliated by ripping Damon´s black t-shirt as well. They stumbled further into the room, ridding each other of the rest of their clothing, completely shredding it. Damon didn`t care that Ric had just ruined one of his favourite jeans. He just wanted Ric naked and in his bed as soon as possible.

Neither vampire noticed Stefan, who - after the initial shock had worn off - had followed them upstairs to demand answers. The younger Salvatore stormed into the bedroom, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight that met him. For a second he stared at his older brother and the teacher agape, then he turned on his heel and left quickly, a blush staining his cheeks.

Damon gasped when he landed with his back on the bed, Ric`s weight pressing him into the mattress. He claimed the other vampire`s lips again, arching into him. And god, he wasn`t going to last long, but that didn`t matter. They had all night. Moaning in delight when Ric`s lips found his neck, placing gentle kisses, before biting down without warning, he wondered for a second about Ric`s considerable strength and his surprising lack of restraint, before every coherent thought was swept away by waves of ecstasy.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all so much for the Reviews. Today`s part is a bit longer. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

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"So let me see if I go this straight: You`re telling me that you had to leave town spontaneously, because of a family emergency. And you completely forgot to tell anyone that you were leaving. While you were away someone stole your car and crashed it. And since his corpse was burned beyond recognition everybody thought it was you." Sherriff Forbes recounted the tale, sharing a quick glance with Mrs. Lockwood, before turning her attention back to the two men standing in front of her.

"You can imagine my shock, when he called and asked me to pick him up from the airport." Damon remarked, looking completely earnest. Liz gave him an incredulous look. "Are you kidding me? I`ve seen the corpse. And it was neither unrecognizable nor burned in any way. Also I was the one who staged the fake accident to explain his death, in case you`ve forgotten." she reminded the vampire, who didn`t even have the decency to look sheepish. Alaric sighed and stared at his feet.

He had known it was a bad idea the moment Damon had come up with this plan. Liz and Carol weren`t stupid. He had told the dark haired vampire they would never believe the lie. But Damon had insisted that his story was the best way to explain Alaric`s sudden resurrection and when the other vampire had tried to argue he had given him puppy dog eyes. Who the hell would have thought Damon Salvatore would be able to pull off the puppy dog look? Alaric certainly hadn`t and had therefore been taken by surprise and okay, he had kinda melted (even if he would never admit it) and agreed on the stupid plan. And now they were standing in the sheriff`s office and the two women were looking at them, waiting for an explanation they could believe.

Alaric had to give them credit. Neither woman had shrieked or fainted or anything like that upon seeing him, a guy who was supposed to be dead and buried. Carol looked a little pale, but she was taking it in stride. You probably had to toughen up, when it was your job to protect a town that was continuously haunted by various supernatural factions, he supposed.

Next to him Damon heaved a sigh of resignation, startling Alaric out of his thoughts. "Okay, I guess it was a stupid idea to lie to you." he conceded, before looking at Ric. "I guess we can tell them the truth, don`t you think?" Alaric`s eyes widened in shock, but before he had the chance to utter a word of protest Damon was already talking. "Okay the truth is... Ric has a doppelganger. An evil, vampire-hating doppelganger, to be exact." he stated. Luckily both women were busy staring at him and therefore didn`t notice the look of surprise on Alaric`s face.

"A doppelganger?" Liz asked sceptically. Damon nodded. "Yes, just like Elena. I`m sure Caroline told you about Katherine?" he asked. "She did." Liz confirmed. "Well, Ric has, or rather had a doppelganger as well. But we didn`t know that. He kidnapped Ric and paid someone to hold him captive, while he took his place. Then he tried to kill us. I thought Ric had snapped or he was possessed or something like that. Anyways, the doppelganger was killed by one of the originals, as I`ve already told you and of course we all thought it was the real Ric. Until a few days ago, when I got a call from an old friend who told me that the real Alaric was still alive and being held captive. So of course I went and saved him and here we are." Damon finished his story and looked at the two women expectantly.

Alaric fought to keep his face neutral, while he wondered where the other vampire was getting these ideas. "Wow, that is..." Liz stated, but was interrupted by Carol, who exclaimed: "That is horrible." She looked at Alaric sympathetically. "That must have been so hard for you." The former teacher blinked, completely shocked that they obviously believed the stupid lie. "Umm yeah it was.. tough." he stuttered. "Do you have any idea where you were held captive? Or who was your captor? What did he look like?" Liz asked, ever the sheriff.

Ric shrugged. "No, I`m sorry. I was ... drugged most of the time. I can`t remember all that much about the last few weeks." he explained, surprising himself with how easy it was to lie. Maybe he had spent too much time around Damon already. "They had locked him into some sort of basement. He was completely out of it when I found him." Damon added. "And his captor?" the sheriff continued her interrogation. "Dead. I had no choice. He came at me with a stake and I had to protect Ric." the dark-haired vampire told the women, who both nodded sympathetically.

"Well, I`m certainly glad you`re back." Carol murmured, smiling at Ric. "Thanks. So am I." He said sincerely. It was true. He was glad to be back. No matter what Damon and Jeremy had to do to make that happen. "I suggest we stick to our first story where it concerns the public, don`t you think? After all, we have to explain his sudden reappearance." Damon pointed out. "You`re right. I`ll make sure it gets in the press." Carol Lockwood promised. "I think it would be for the best if you didn`t walk around too much today. Better lay low for one or two days. At least until word has spread that you`re back and that it wasn`t you who died in that car crash." Liz suggested.

Which was fine with Ric. He didn`t feel like running around, scaring people because he was back from the dead. Elena`s reaction last night had been bad enough. He wouldn`t forget the shocked and almost scared look on her face so easily. "Of course. Don`t worry. I`ll stay inside." he promised. Both women told him again how glad they were to have him back and Carol said he could even get his old job back, since the new history teacher had already quit again.

Alaric pulled the hood of his jacket up, before following Damon outside, where the car was waiting. "That went well." Damon stated. Alaric hunched down in the passenger seat. "Aside from the fact that they didn`t believe your stupid story." he reminded the older vampire, barely resisting the urge to say 'I told you so'. "It was still a good cover story." Damon insisted and Ric could swear he was pouting. "Not my fault those women have to stick their noses into anything that happens around here." The teacher had to fight to keep the smile off his face.

"At least you had a back-up plan. Interesting idea by the way, telling them I had a doppelganger. I`m starting to wonder where you get those ideas." Damon shrugged. "I`m full of amazing ideas. And it wasn`t so far from the truth, was it? You really weren`t yourself when you tried to kill us all." Alaric shuddered. He couldn`t remember the things he had done after his evil alter ego had taken over his body, but Damon had told him some of it. He was pretty sure the older vampire had left the most gruesome details out. Still the thought of himself hurting Caroline, trying to hurt Damon, made him sick to his stomach. He was glad he couldn`t remember it.

"So... you have to stay inside today." Damon murmured, startling him out of his dark thoughts, as they neared the boarding house. Ric was glad for the change of topic. "Looks like it." he muttered back. "That could get boring." the dark haired vampire remarked. Alaric had to suppress a grin. He had a pretty good idea where this was going. "You could keep me company." he suggested, playing along. "I might do that. If you ask nicely." Alaric knew that the trademark smirk was plastered across Damon`s face without having to look and decided to humour him this time. After all, bantering with his lover was so much better than thinking of the past. "Would you please keep me company, Damon?" he asked, barely managing to keep a straight face. The dark haired vampire heaved a dramatic sigh. "I can`t really say no to that, can I? But you`ll have to keep me occupied. I get bored easily." he warned. This time Alaric didn`t even try to hide his grin. "Oh, I`m sure I`ll think of something." he promised.

When they finally reached the boarding house he had every intention of continuing where they had left off last night. But all thoughts of getting Damon naked and into bed as quickly as possible fled from Alaric`s mind at the sight that met him when he entered the library. Last night he`d been surprised that no-one had followed them upstairs, demanding answers. But he hadn`t really thought about it much, too caught up in Damon. They had woken late this morning, after having barely slept all night, so Elena and Stefan had already been at school when they finally made it down to the kitchen. Now however they couldn`t evade the obvious questions any longer.

Upon entering the room all eyes locked on Alaric. Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler and Matt looked completely shocked, while Stefan appeared thoughtful, obviously already wondering how Damon had managed to bring Ric back. Elena seemed a mixture of shocked and happy, but she also blushed furiously when he caught her eye and Ric suddenly realized that he and Damon hadn`t exactly been quiet last night. Which caused him to blush as well. He hadn`t really thought about how to break the news of his and Damon`s new relationship (If you could call it that. They hadn`t really talked about it so far.), but he had intended to tell her gently.

"He´s really back!" Caroline stated, shattering the silence and startling Alaric out of his thoughts. Damon rolled his eyes. "State the obvious, Blondie." the dark haired vampire muttered, as Caroline turned to Ric. "You`re back. But you.. you were.."

"dead." Tyler finished her sentence, looking just as shocked as his girlfriend. Alaric fidgeted under the combined stares that were directed at him.

"So what`s this? Did we miss the invitation for the emergency meeting or did you decide to throw a surprise party, to celebrate Ric`s return to the world of the living? Well, the living dead at least. In that case you missed the right moment to jump up and shout surprise." Damon joked. Not really surprising no-one laughed. Boring lot. "You promised to explain." Stefan reminded his brother, looking solemn. Damon shrugged. "I know this witch. She owed me a favour and I cashed it in." he explained, but left the details out.

"A witch brought you back from the dead?" Matt piped up, looking from Damon and Alaric to Bonnie. The Bennett witch narrowed her eyes. Alaric wondered how much she knew about the spell that had brought him back and what it required. "The ghosts don`t allow witches to trifle with nature. What you`re talking about is black magic." The others looked concerned at those words, but Damon just rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, judgy. It`s not like you haven`t done pretty much the same thing for Jeremy a short while ago." he reminded her. "That was completely different." Bonnie hissed. "And I paid the price for that." Alaric felt bad for her, knowing she had indeed paid the price. Jeremy had started seeing ghosts and had practically cheated on her with his dead girlfriend.

"How was it different?" Elena spoke up. "Jeremy wasn`t really gone. His spirit was still there. Ric has been dead for some time. We buried him. And he was a vampire when he died. It`s black magic." she repeated. "He`s still a vampire. And it`s not black magic. Maybe a little grey." Damon muttered, echoing what Celia, the witch in question had said. The others didn`t look convinced and if Alaric was completely honest, he wasn`t convinced himself. He had witnessed the preparations for the spell and he had seen the changes in Celia, after she had worked her magic. But he wasn`t about to complain or disagree with Damon, because he was way too glad to be back among the living. Or the living dead, at least, as Damon had earlier pointed out.

"Tell me more about this spell." Bonnie demanded, looking straight at Damon. The dark haired vampire just shrugged. "Not much to tell. I didn`t really pay attention to details or anything. I just let the witch do her thing." he claimed. "You have to remember something." Bonnie prodded, clearly annoyed at the evasive answer. "Nope, nothing." Damon grinned. He had too much fun annoying the little witch. Besides he wasn`t about to tell them that he and Jeremy had killed twelve vampires to bring Ric and Anna back. Elena certainly wouldn`t be pleased about that. Especially about the fact that her baby brother had helped. He just had to hope that Jeremy would keep his mouth shut as well. Should have talked it through with him earlier. Only now did Damon realize that the teen wasn`t here.

Before he could comment on his absence however, Alaric spoke up. "The witch created a tear in the veil that separates the world of the living from the other side, where supernatural creatures are caught after their death." the teacher explained, causing everybody to stare at him again. "How do you know? I mean you were..." Caroline asked, again not daring to finish that sentence. Ric smiled. "I may have been dead, but I wasn`t gone for good. I was still here, trying to watch over you."

"He means to say he was stalking me." Damon interrupted. Ric looked at him and couldn`t keep the grin off his face. How he had missed bantering with the dark haired vampire. "Mostly." he conceded, causing Damon to grin as well. They stared at each other for a few seconds, which were probably a few seconds too long, cause when he turned back to the others, Elena was blushing again, Stefan looked uncomfortable and Caroline was watching them with a calculating look. The blonde had obviously picked up on the change between the two men, even if she couldn`t tell yet what it meant. Ric was pretty sure she would find out soon. If anybody would, then Caroline.

"What are you going to tell people? I mean, there was a funeral. Everybody knows you`re dead." Tyler spoke up again. "Don`t worry, wolfboy. We already talked to your mum and the sheriff about a cover story. By tomorrow everybody in this town will know that Ric was only visiting his family and the guy who crashed his car was a thieve." Damon told him. "And my mum believed that?" the hybrid asked, for once ignoring the jibe. "Damon told her I had an evil doppelganger, who died in my place, while I was being held captive." Alaric answered, before the dark haired vampire had the chance to insult Tyler further. Really, the guy had already bitten him once. One would think Damon would learn from experience.

"An evil doppelganger? Where did you get that idea?" The question came from Elena, who seemed to have gotten over her discomfort for the moment. Or maybe she only wanted a change of topic to take her mind off the fact that she knew exactly, what Damon and Ric had done last night. Damon just shrugged again. "I`m full of amazing ideas. And it´s not so far from the truth, is it? He wasn`t himself." He repeated what he had said to Ric on the drive. The others nodded thoughtfully. "So that means you`re really back for good?" Caroline spoke up again. "Yes, I am. Carol even said I could have my old job back." Ric confirmed, although he wasn`t really sure if he wanted to work as a teacher again. After all, he was a vampire now. And he was still learning to control his urges. That could complicate things at school. On the other hand he wanted to be there for the kids and make sure they all managed to graduate.

"You`re really going to work as a teacher again? That could get a little complicated, now that you`re a vampire." Damon pointed out and Ric had to smile at how alike their thoughts were sometimes. "I haven`t decided yet, but I thought you were going to help me with the vampire stuff?" Damon smirked at him. "I might do that. If you ask nicely." he echoed his earlier words. Alaric could practically feel Caroline staring, trying to figure them out. He wouldn`t really mind if everyone knew about him and Damon, but he wanted to talk to the other vampire first, figure out what exactly they were now. He wasn`t even sure if Damon wanted to keep their relationship a secret or not.

Luckily he was saved for now, by loud giggling, seconds before the front door opened to reveal Jeremy, who was loaded with shopping bags and followed by Anna. The two of them stopped dead in their tracks when they reached the library and everyone turned to stare at them. Ric didn`t know exactly how old Anna was, but he was once again surprised when she blushed and started fidgeting like the teenager she was destined to be for the rest of her undead live. If he didn`t know any better he would believe she was really only 16.

Jeremy set the bags down, stepped closer to his girlfriend and put his arm around her. "Where have you been?" Ric asked, trying to lessen the tension in the room. He didn`t miss the way Bonnie was glaring at Anna. And he couldn`t really blame her. After all Anna had been the reason she and Jeremy had split up and he supposed the young witch had hoped they would get back together sooner or later. But now that Anna was back she had to accept that she didn`t stand a chance. However Jeremy had fallen in love with Anna long before he and Bonnie had gotten together and they had never really broken up. Anna had died and Jeremy had been devastated. He had never stopped loving her.

"We were shopping. Anna needed clothes." Jeremy interrupted his musings. "A lot of clothes." Bonnie commented, looking at the shopping bags pointedly. "I had to replace my whole wardrobe." Anna defended herself while she glared at the witch. That was at least one thing Alaric was spared. Most of his clothes and other stuff were still at his apartment. Thanks to Damon, who had continued to pay the rent, as he had confessed this morning.

"If they start a catfight over little Gilbert I`m out of here." The dark haired vampire told Ric, leaning close to whisper the words in his ear, which was moot since most people in the room were vampires and heard him anyway. Alaric rolled his eyes and tried to suppress a shudder at feeling Damon`s breath tickle his ear. "We also enrolled Anna at school." Jeremy announced. "And before you ask, it was my idea." he continued, staring at his ex pointedly, daring her to say something. Bonnie held his eyes for about two seconds, before she looked away, admitting defeat.

Alaric feared a lot more drama between those three in the near future. And he had a feeling they would all be drawn into it, if they wanted or not. Already Caroline was glaring at Anna and Jeremy in turn. Ric supposed purely out of sympathy for her best friend. The tension in the room was getting thicker. "I`ll help Anna to get settled in her new room then, if that`s okay." Jeremy spoke up again, obviously wanting to escape the combined stares directed his way. Damon nodded. "Yeah, do that. You can decorate if you like, but no painting the walls or something like that. And I don`t want to see any Justin Bieber posters." he warned, laughing at the glare Anna sent his way. "I have taste." she protested.

Jeremy bent down to pick up the bags again, when Stefan suddenly spoke up. "Wait a second, she`s moving in here?" Damon shrugged. "Of course she is. It`s the only logic thing, since I`m posing as her guardian." The others looked surprised, while Alaric had to hide a grin. That had been his idea and he had to do a lot of convincing to get Damon to agree. Okay, mostly a lot of dirty promises he was really looking forward to fulfilling, to be exact. "You`re posing as Anna`s guardian?" Stefan repeated, looking at his brother like he`d lost his mind. Alaric answered before Damon had the chance to say anything. "She`s supposed to be only 16. We can hardly have her living here somewhere on her own. And this way you can keep an eye on her."

The last comment earned him a dark look from Damon and a protest from Anna, that she wasn`t a kid and could look after herself. "Oh yes, you proved that by getting yourself killed." Bonnie chimed in with a cruel smile. Ric never thought the witch had such an evil streak. "That would never have happened if you had really deactivated that device instead of lying to your friends!" Anna shot back. Once again the two girls were glaring daggers at each other. Alaric was just about to step in, when Damon beat him to it.

"Oh come on, little Gilbert isn`t the only guy in this town. So he dumped you for a ghost. Tough shit. Stop whining and get over it, witchy!" Bonnie redirected her glare towards Damon and Alaric expected him to double over in pain any second. Instead the older Salvatore rounded on Anna. "And while you may have a point here I won`t have you bitching all the time either. You`re back from the dead, you got the guy, so shut up, be happy and go decorate your room or whatever."

Everyone stared at Damon agape. Anna looked like she was about to tell him exactly what she thought of being bossed around, but Jeremy prevented that by picking up the bags and motioning for her to follow him. "Come on, let`s get you settled." She sent another death glare Damon´s way, before following her boyfriend upstairs, muttering under her breath. Alaric had watched the whole scene with mild amusement. Maybe his lover wouldn`t make such a bad guardian after all. Even if it was only fake.

Damon turned back to the others. "So Ric`s back from the dead, Anna`s back from the dead and we got cover stories for both of them. Any more stupid questions or are we done?" His tone clearly indicated that he wasn`t in the mood for further interrogation. Bonnie however didn`t seem to care. "I want to know more about that spell." she demanded once again. Damon crossed his arms and regarded her coolly. "I told you all I know." he claimed. "You haven`t told me anything." Bonnie argued, her eyes narrowed. The dark haired vampire shrugged. "Because I don`t know anything. Like I said, I let the witch do her thing. I never pay attention to witchy-stuff. And I don´t know why it would even concern you. It`s not like you could use the knowledge. You lost your powers, remember?"

The young witch flinched. Yes, she had problems with her magic, Alaric remembered now. That explained why his lover hadn`t doubled over in pain yet. "I`m working on that." Bonnie replied vaguely, exchanging a quick look with Caroline. Ric had a bad feeling about that statement, although he couldn`t explain why. Something about the way she said it just felt off. The witch fixed her gaze on him. "What about you? Do you know more about it?" she asked. Ric could feel Damon stiffen beside him. Yeah, like he was really going to tell everyone the exact details of that spell. He wasn`t stupid. He knew they would give Damon and Jeremy one hell of a hard time about it.

"I`m sorry, but I didn`t really pay all that much attention either. Especially when the witch worked her magic. Things got pretty confusing then." he replied apologetically. Either he had become a fantastic liar or Bonnie just didn`t expect him to keep the truth from her, because she accepted his answer with a curt nod. There was a short silence and Ric started to believe, interrogation time was over for now, when Elena spoke up again. "Will you still continue to live with us?" she asked almost hopefully, looking directly at Alaric. He hadn`t really thought about that yet, but he didn`t see any reason why not.

"Yes, I think so. I mean, if you want me to, of course. I guess I`m still your official guardian, right?" He had wondered before why they didn`t just kick him out. Now they had all the more reason to do so. "We`d be happy if you stayed." the brunette said sincerely. "Okay, then I guess that´s decided. I`ll stay at the boarding house today and maybe also tomorrow, though. Sheriff Forbes didn`t want me to wander around town while everyone still thinks I`m dead. Oh, and I guess Jeremy will have to invite me in now." the former teacher mused. That was something he still had to get used to. Among other things.

Next to him Damon snorted, turned on his heel and stormed upstairs. Ric watched him go with a frown, wondering what prompted this sudden exit. He flinched when he heard a door slam. So the dark haired vampire was obviously pissed. But if Damon had objections to him moving back in with the Gilbert siblings why didn`t he just say so? He was usually very vocal about anything and never had a problem voicing complaints.

The others looked just as surprised as he did, with the exception of Stefan, who was giving Ric a weird look. "What was that?" Bonnie questioned. Ric shrugged and wondered if he should go after his lover or if it would be better to wait until Damon had cooled off a bit. But he really had no wish to endure those stares all alone. "I`ll be right back." he promised, before following the dark-haired vampire upstairs, surprised to find Damon´s door open and the room empty.


	3. Chapter 3

While the discussion was still going on downstairs, Anna and Jeremy had retired to the room the vampire had claimed as hers and started unpacking the shopping bags. Jeremy helped his girlfriend put her stuff away and she told him what was going on downstairs. "They`re still discussing the spell." she said with a frown. "I hope they don`t tell the others more details. I really don`t want my sister`s opinion on that." Jeremy replied, picking up another bag and blushing when he noticed that it contained underwear. Anna noticed this with a grin and took the bag from him.

"I don`t think Damon will tell them anything. He knows how they would react." she said, dumping the underwear into a drawer. "I`m more worried about Ric." Jeremy admitted. He knew that his guardian didn`t like it when he had to lie. "I`m sure he already talked it through with Damon and they agreed not to tell the others any details." The vampire sounded pretty sure of that. "You really think they took a break long enough to talk?" Jeremy asked with a grimace, remembering the noise coming from Damon´s room last night. Pretty much all night long. Really, he was happy for them, especially for Ric, but he didn`t need the mental image those sounds had given him. He had barely been able to look at Ric earlier. At least not without blushing crimson.

Anna giggled. "Yeah, we should have bought earplugs. If they go at it like that every night it`s going to be hard to get any sleep around here." Jeremy shuddered. "If they go at it like that every night you`re moving in with me. And I don`t care what Elena has to say about that. I`m not spending another night listening to them." he decided. He might already be scarred for life. Anna grinned. "Sounds like a plan. But then we`d probably have to endure your sister and Stefan. And I don`t know which couple would be worse. Maybe we should just force Damon to make his room soundproof." she suggested.

The Gilbert boy laughed at that. "Good luck forcing Damon to do anything." He grabbed the next bag, wondering absently just how much they had bought. Not that they had really paid for all of those clothes. Anna had compelled herself quite a few, not wanting Jeremy to spend this much money on her. "You forget that I`ve known Damon before he even became a vampire. I may have some blackmailing material." Anna let him know. Yes, he tended to forget just how old she was. Not that it really mattered.

"What was he like? As a human, I mean." he asked, genuinely curious. He had to admit that Damon wasn`t quite the monster he seemed at first sight. He may even be a nice guy, deep down, but the teen couldn`t picture him as anything but a vampire. Anna shrugged, seemed surprised by his question. "I didn`t know him all that well back then. But he was … cute. Charming. Maybe even a little naïve. He already had quite a temper and he was angered easily. But he wasn`t that sarcastic. He was just a normal guy who fell in love with the wrong girl." Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Cute? Charming?" The vampire smiled up at him. "Hey, no need to get jealous. But yes, he was charming. I think he can still be charming now. Though maybe not as charming as you." Still smiling she tugged her boyfriend down for quick kiss, before stepping away to finish unpacking.

Jeremy watched her with a smile. He tried to picture a naïve, charming Damon, but all he came up with was Damon flirting with his sister, all teasing smiles and long looks. Well, girls probably found him charming, the teen supposed. He was just about to ask another question, when the sound of a door slamming nearby made him and Anna jump in unison. They looked at each other and Anna shrugged. She had been too preoccupied with her boyfriend to pay attention to the conversation downstairs anymore. They jumped again, when only seconds later Anna`s door flew open and Damon barged in.

"Don`t you ever knock?" the girl scolded. "This is my house. Quit bitching. I would`ve heard it if you were busy." Damon shot back, turning towards Jeremy. "No word about the spell. To anybody." he ordered. "I won`t have your sister or saint Stefan bitching at me for doing what had to be done." he scowled at the thought. "I wasn`t planning on telling anyone, don`t worry. I have no desire to listen to Elena`s complaints, either." Jeremy assured.

He knew how Elena and the others would react if they knew what he and Damon had done to bring back the ones they loved. They wouldn`t understand and he really didn`t want to hear Elena`s complaints. Her current mood swings were bad enough. He didn`t need to give her more reason to freak. Damon gave a sharp nod. "Good. Just wanted to make sure we`re on the same page." He left the room as abruptly as he had entered and the two teens stared at the closed door for a second in wonder. "Yeah, really charming." Jeremy commented sarcastically. Anna just giggled and threw a cushion at him, hitting him square in the head. Jeremy picked it up and threw it back, but she ducked, before speeding to the bed to get another one. Laughing the boy followed her and a pillow fight ensued.

###

Damon shook his head at the giggles coming from the room and stalked along the hallway, surprised when he came face to face with Alaric. For a second both men just stared at each other. Finally Ric broke the silence. "You stormed out on us without a word. Care to explain?" Damon didn`t answer. He just glared at the former teacher, who sighed in response. "Could you please quit being childish and just tell me what`s wrong?" he asked. "Nothing." Damon spat, his venomous tone belying the word. Alaric rolled his eyes.

"Are you mad at me for telling Elena I would continue to live with them?" he prodded. The dark haired vampire crossed his arms and continued to scowl at him, which he took as a yes. "I didn´t know you wanted me to move in here. You didn`t say anything." the former teacher pointed out. "I never said I didn`t want you here." Damon mumbled. He sounded like a petulant child and Ric couldn`t help but smile. He moved closer, until they were only inches apart. "If we want to make this work you`ll have to talk to me, Damon. You`re so hard to read."

The older vampire fidgeted a little. He hadn`t really been in a relationship since Katherine and you probably couldn`t even count what they`d had as relationship. He had no experience with this, didn`t know how to behave. And somehow he still expected Ric to tell him it had all been a mistake and leave. No-one had ever wanted to be with him. Why should Ric be any different? Surely he would leave him soon. Just like everybody else.

"Maybe it`s for the best if we don`t rush into this." the former teacher murmured and Damon felt his fears confirmed. Ric was giving up on him already. He tried to move away, but Ric`s surprisingly strong arms caught him and pinned him against the wall, reminding him that Ric wasn`t a normal vampire. He was an original. Way stronger than he should be. Damon looked up at him and Ric felt his heart constrict at the hurt in his lover´s eyes. He knew instantly that Damon had taken his words the wrong way.

"Hey, I`m not saying I don`t want this. Just because I`m living at the Gilbert house and you`re living here doesn`t mean we can`t spend the night together. It just means we can chose between two bedrooms. And we can chose the house with the least teenager activity." This elicited at least a little smile from the dark haired vampire. "We can still move in together in a few month. All I`m saying is, let´s take this slow, okay? I want to be with you. I really do. More than anything." Ric assured, letting his hands grip Damon´s hips and putting his forehead against Damon´s. He smiled when he felt the dark haired vampire`s arms around his waist. "Okay." Damon agreed finally and Ric felt him visibly relaxing.

"Oh my god. You`re together!" The sudden exclamation made them turn towards the stairs, without letting go of each other. Caroline stood on top of the stairs and watched them with wide eyes. "No shit, Blondie." Damon quipped in his usual sarcastic tone. Instead of feeling offended, Caroline grinned. "That´s so cute." She bounded back downstairs, the two vampires staring after her, completely puzzled.

"Cute?" Damon repeated, arching an eyebrow. Ric shrugged. Seconds later they heard Caroline asking why no-one had told her that they were a couple now. "Sounds like we`ve been outed." Ric commented dryly. "Looks like it." Damon agreed, staring at his lover. "Is that okay with you?" he asked after a moment's hesitation, inwardly cursing himself, because they hadn`t talked about all this earlier. Ric`s smile was reassuring. "I don`t care if the whole town knows about us." he replied honestly and Damon breathed a sigh of relief. "What about you?" the former teacher asked. Damon`s only answer was a smirk, as he grabbed his lovers hand and dragged him downstairs.

There was a rather heated discussion going on, but as soon as they stepped into the library, everyone fell silent. Caroline looked at their joined hands with a grin, while Bonnie and Tyler regarded them with a frown. "Yes, it`s true. I know it`s a terrible loss, but sorry ladies, you had your chance. Now it`s too late. I`m off the market." Damon announced with a grin. He winked at Elena, who quickly averted her eyes, blushing once more. Ric felt his undead heart beat a little faster at those words. He`d been happy yesterday, knowing Damon had feelings for him, but now that the other vampire acknowledged their relationship so openly he was bordering on ecstatic. The insecurity from a few minutes before seemed forgotten.

For a few moments the library was eerily silent. "You`re kidding, right?" Bonnie finally asked, looking like she thought it was only a joke. "I mean that`s just..." She made a strange motion with her hands, seemingly at a loss for words. "…just weird." Matt finished her sentence. Damon regarded him coldly and took a menacing step towards him. "You got a problem, Donovan?" His voice was dangerously low. Without thinking Ric put a hand on his shoulder and was just as surprised as everyone else when Damon actually seemed to calm a little under his touch. Matt held up his hands, placating. "I didn`t mean it bothers me. It`s just ... unexpected." he hurried to explain.

Ric smiled at him. "That`s okay, Matt. I understand that this comes quite as a surprise to all of you. But it doesn`t really change anything, does it?" He turned to Elena. "I`ll still be living with you and Jeremy, if that`s really what you want, but I`ll spend some nights at the boarding house and Damon will spend some nights at yours." the former teacher told the brunette. "Yep, you`ll be seeing a lot more of me." Damon added with a wink and the room fell silent again.

Once more it was Bonnie who spoke up. "Where`s the catch?" The new couple looked at her questioningly. "Catch?" Damon asked. "There`s always a catch with you. And we all know you`re in love with Elena. You don`t actually expect us to believe you suddenly discovered your feelings for Alaric of all people?" Her mocking tone made Damon´s temper rise. "Watch it, judgy." he growled. Ric tightened his hold on the dark haired vampire´s shoulder, feeling him practically vibrating with anger. "You think I brought him back from the dead just for fun?" Damon spat.

"I think you always have some ulterior motive. And you don`t care about other people`s feelings. You do whatever it takes to get what you want. No matter who you hurt in the process. I think you`re playing all of us." Alaric looked at Bonnie in shock. He had always known that the witch didn`t like Damon. But this hatred was new. And it scared him a little. There was something strange and dark about her, he suddenly noticed. Something was different. But he couldn`t put his finger on it and right now he was too preoccupied with his lover to really care. Bonnie knew exactly what buttons to push to rile Damon up. Ric feared it would only be a matter of time until the dark haired vampire attacked her. He had to end this fight right now before it got out of hand. He just didn`t know how.

Help came from an unexpected source. "I think you`re wrong this time, Bonnie. They`re really sweet together." Caroline declared. The witch turned to glare at her now and the others gave her incredulous looks as well. "Sweet? The psychotic vampire, who abused you in the past, in case you`ve forgotten, tells us he`s dating our history teacher slash vampire hunter, who just got resurrected from the dead. And you think it`s sweet?" the witch asked, staring at Caroline like she`d lost her mind. Ric flinched at the accusations, knowing they were true.

But Caroline didn`t back down. "Yes, I think they`re sweet. I`ve seen them together. I`ve seen the way they look at each other. And I`m willing to forget the past. Although I`m still waiting for an apology." she stated, looking directly at Damon as she said the last sentence. Ric couldn`t stifle a chuckle. "Yeah, good luck with that. I had to die to actually get an apology out of him." Damon turned to frown at the former teacher, who just shrugged in response. "Hey, it´s the truth." They stared at each other for a long moment, then Damon rolled his eyes and turned back to Caroline. "Well, sometimes .. I do things … I don`t need to do."

Ric grinned. This was the third time his lover tried to pass that stupid line off as an apology. "He is sorry. He just doesn`t know how to say it." Ric told Caroline. "I can talk for myself." Damon protested. "Yeah, but sometimes you don`t say things the way you should." the former teacher said, smiling when his boyfriend directed a glare at him. It wasn`t even a real glare. He could see the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and figured Damon had missed their bantering just as much as he had.

"This is ridiculous!" Bonnie again. The witch just couldn`t keep her mouth shut today. This time she turned to Stefan. "Do you actually believe that?" The younger Salvatore fidgeted a little under the combined stares that were now directed at him. He had been strangely silent the whole time. Finally he met his brother´s eyes. "I`m not sure what to think, yet. But I don`t really trust your honesty here." he admitted quietly. "Because there always has to be some grand evil scheme behind everything I do, right? Some devious plan to steal your girlfriend." the dark haired vampire shot back. Alaric wondered if he was the only one who could hear the hurt in his tone. Obviously Damon had hoped that at least his brother would believe him and was now disappointed.

"You know what Stefan, fuck you! I don`t care what you think. What any of you thinks." Turning his back on his brother and the others, Damon once again stormed upstairs. Ric knew that he was hurt more than angry and was about to follow him, when Stefan`s voice held him back. "Alaric… I think you should be careful. I know my brother can be very… persuasive, but… Bonnie was right. He does whatever it takes to get what he wants. And that is Elena." Ric sighed and looked at the younger Salvatore, sadly shaking his head. "I know he`s your brother, Stefan. But you`re wrong here. You don´t know him like I do. I trust him. With my life and with my heart." he clarified.

Without giving Stefan a chance to reply he turned and rushed after Damon, surprising himself with the use of his vampire speed. He stopped in shock when he found Damon standing in the corridor. "Did you really mean that?" the dark haired vampire asked softly. Ric stepped closer and pulled him into his arms. "I meant every word I said. " he assured, smiling when Damon´s arms tightened around him. He knew that the dark haired vampire wasn`t as tough as he pretended to be.

Both turned at the sound of heels clicking on the stairs. Ric wasn`t really surprised to find Caroline standing on top of the stairs again. "I just wanted to say, I believe you. And the others will come round. They just need a little time." she told them. The former teacher gave her a grateful smile and chuckled when she added. "And I`m happy for you."

"Thank you." he murmured sincerely. She smiled at him and turned to leave, but stopped when Damon called out: "Hey, Barbie.." The blonde looked at him questioningly, but he didn`t meet her eyes. He just stared at his feet, hesitating. "I`m sorry." he finally mumbled. Caroline beamed. "Apology accepted." She winked at Ric. "And I didn`t even have to die. I feel really special now." Giggling she returned downstairs and left Ric alone with a grumbling Damon. "That girl is crazy, if you ask me. And…"

He didn`t get to finish that sentence, because Ric cut him off with a kiss. "What was that for?" the dark haired vampire asked once his lover pulled back. "That was the easiest way to shut you up." Alaric joked, earning himself a playful punch to the arm. "Besides, I promised to keep you occupied, didn`t I?" he continued, referring to their earlier talk in the car. "You certainly did. So how exactly do you plan to keep that promise?" Damon asked, his mouth twitching. "Oh I have a few ideas." Ric murmured.

He backed his lover into a corner and claimed his lips again. "Great, now I`m really scarred for life." The two vampires turned to find Jeremy standing behind them, his expression warring between a smile and a grimace. "Oh shut up. And better get used to that sight." was Damon`s only reply. "Why, do you plan more make-out sessions in public places in the near future?" the teen quipped and Ric couldn`t help but chuckle. At least Jeremy was taking it all in stride. But he´d been with them on this journey. He had seen another side of Damon. Maybe that made it easier for him to accept their relationship. "This isn`t a public place, smartass. It´s my house. And it`s really none of your business." Damon shot back.

Jeremy shook his head, his expression finally settling into a smile. "Didn`t go so well down there, huh?" he guessed. Damon shrugged. "The usual, I`d say. Just my brother being my brother and judgy being judgy." the vampire replied, acting like it didn`t bother him at all. Ric knew that it was just an act and he had a feeling that Jeremy knew it too. "If you`ll excuse us now… We`re actually busy." the dark haired vampire ended the conversation and turned to his lover again. "So… back to those ideas you mentioned…"

Ric couldn`t help but grin. But he also noticed Jeremy looking at them with a frown and felt slightly guilty. They should really lay off the sexual innuendos in front of the kids. "Anna and I are going to head over to my place." the teen decided and went to fetch his girlfriend. "Great, that means the kids are out of the way." Damon commented, while he pulled Ric into his bedroom. "Two of them are out of the way. The others are still downstairs." Ric reminded him. He could hear the raised voices coming from the living room. Obviously they were still discussing whether Damon was just using Ric or not. It sounded like Caroline had gotten into a fight with Bonnie over the subject. The former teacher felt bad for the blonde, although he was glad that someone stood up for them.

"So let`s give them something to discuss." the dark haired vampire suggested with a grin, before dragging his lover to the bed and claiming his lips in another heated kiss. Ric was a little hesitant. Elena`s reaction to their not-so-quiet, nightly activities had been bad enough. He already knew he wouldn`t be able to look her in the eyes for the next few days. He really didn`t want the others listening to them as well, knowing it would make things all the more awkward.

But Damon could be really persistent when he wanted something and Ric was already prone to giving in to his lover. "Can you at least try to be quiet?" he murmured once their lips had parted, while he allowed Damon to pull his shirt off. He`d wisely chosen one without buttons this time. Damon`s devious grin told him he had no intention of being quiet, but somehow Ric couldn`t really bring himself to care, when Damon pulled his own shirt off, before pushing Ric onto the bed and straddling his lap.

Damon`s lips nibbled lightly on his neck, Damon´s hands caressed his body and the teacher sighed in defeat. Things were already a little awkward, he reasoned. How much worse could it get? He grabbed Damon´s hips and pulled him down onto the bed, before freeing him of his tight jeans, throwing them into a corner. Then he leaned down and let his tongue trace a path over Damon´s torso, starting at his throat and moving slowly downwards. He had just reached the right nipple, when there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Go away. We`re busy!" Damon grumbled without looking up. Still the door opened to reveal Caroline. Her eyes widened when she spied the two men on the bed. "What do you want?" the older vampire asked in annoyance. Ric had sat up and moved away a bit, a blush staining his cheeks. The blonde however didn`t seem appalled by what she saw. In fact she looked like she wanted to pull out her cell phone and snap a picture.

"I just wanted to tell you that we`re leaving. We`ll be at the Grill. So you`ve got the house to yourselves." Caroline muttered without looking away. She really seemed to appreciate the view. "Good. Thanks for the info. And now shoo." Damon replied sarcastically, making a shooing motion. The blonde nodded and finally tore her eyes away, leaving the room reluctantly. Ric couldn`t shake the feeling that she would`ve loved to stay and watch.

Luckily Damon took his thoughts off of her strange behaviour, by ridding the teacher of the rest of his clothes, before shedding his own underwear. Seconds later he found himself flat on his back, with Alaric grinning down on him. When Damon tried to sit up, Ric pushed him back down. The older vampire was once again surprised by his strength and was just about to complain, that the teacher wasn`t playing fair. But Ric`s lips moving over the sensitive skin of his throat, kissing and nipping lightly cut off every protest. Damon closed his eyes and relaxed into his lover´s touch.

Ric`s lips moved slowly lower, his tongue traced a wet path over his collarbone, before he bit into a nipple without warning, making Damon hiss in shock. Alaric licked away the drop of blood that welled out of the wound before it closed again and then let his tongue move lower. Damon arched into him with a groan and tried to get him to speed up. Ric`s tongue had reached his belly-button, but obviously he had decided to torture his lover. Instead of finally touching Damon where he needed it most, Ric directed his attention to the dark-haired vampire`s knee, before letting his lips trail lightly over the insides of Damon´s thigh and finally moving on to the other side, to repeat the process.

"Ric, damnit! Get on with it!" Damon growled, eliciting a chuckle from his lover. "With what, Damon? This?" he murmured, letting his lips trail over Damon´s erection teasingly. Damon`s only answer was a gasp, so Ric took his whole length into his mouth and started bobbing up and down slowly, his tongue tracing the vein on the underside, while one hand played with Damon´s balls. "Ric.. don`t stop.." the dark-haired vampire pleaded. Alaric chuckled, which sent thousands of tiny sparks through Damon´s body and finally pushed him over the edge. With a hoarse shout he came in Ric`s mouth.

The teacher didn`t bat an eyelash. He swallowed all Damon had to offer and finally pulled away, licking his lips in a debouched way, while the older vampire tried to regain his breath. "Damn, where`d you learn to do that?" Damon wanted to know. He had already noticed last night that Ric had obviously quite a bit of experience with other men. The teacher had known exactly what he was doing and he hadn`t been shy about it, which surprised Damon a little. "Well, back in my College years I was rather… experimental." Ric murmured with a shrug. Damon wondered absently why they had waited so long to do this. Oh right, because he`d been scared of losing his best friend and therefore had never dared to hit on Ric. His fault, then.

"What about you?" Alaric asked, even as he allowed Damon to roll him onto his back and return the favour. "I`m over 170 years old, Ric." Damon reminded, like that explained everything. Ric snorted, but it turned into a gasp when Damon´s lips found the sensitive spot on the side of his neck. "Does that mean every vampire is bisexual?" the teacher asked with some difficulty, while Damon`s mouth moved further south. "Not necessarily. There are more than enough boring ones, like my brother for example. I on the other hand have always been a little more… experimental as well. Add that to the fact that I`ve been on this world for quite some time…" he explained, but had to realize that his lover wasn`t really paying attention anymore.

Alaric had both hands fisted in the sheets and was fighting the urge to simply push Damon´s head where he wanted it. But he had started this little game. Now Damon was turning the tables on him and he just had to take it. And the dark-haired vampire was really enjoying his revenge. He spent long minutes mapping Ric`s torso with lips, tongue and teeth, before moving on to his thighs. Ric cursed loudly when Damon sank his fangs into the tender skin of his inner thigh without warning.

"God…" the teacher groaned, drawing a smirk from the older vampire. "You can call me Damon." he murmured and chuckled when Ric sent him a dark look. Without taking his eyes off Alaric`s face he finally slid his mouth over the younger vampire´s impressive length, enjoying the way his eyes glazed over and the groan that slipped past his lips. Ric`s hips thrust upwards automatically, but Damon held him down and didn`t allow him to control the pace. He took his time, wanting to torture his lover a bit more. Still it didn`t take long until Ric came with a groan.

After finally letting go of the teacher, Damon moved back up, kissed his lover passionately and then cuddled against Ric`s broad, hairy chest with a contended sigh. For a while they just laid there and enjoyed their newly-found closeness. Alaric was petting Damon`s hair, gently stroking his neck. "I love you."

Damon bolted upright in shock. He stared at the teacher agape, wondering if he had only imagined the words. But no, he hadn`t. "Too early?" Ric asked with a wry smile that couldn`t hide his nervousness. Damon was searching for words. He really hadn`t expected a declaration like that and needed a moment to calm his racing heart. "What happened to: I`m not going to say it first?" he asked finally, hinting at their talk at the motel parking lot.

Ric shrugged. "Changed my mind." he muttered. Before Damon could reply to that he continued: "You know, I was always so scared you might find out and hate me. That you`d never want to see me again. That I`d lose you, if you knew. Back when… Tyler had bitten you, I… I almost told you. But then Elena was there, taking care of you and I thought… you loved her. So I kept quiet. And then it was suddenly too late and only after my death did I finally realize what an idiot I had been. You bought me, bought us a second chance. And I´m going to use that chance. I don`t ever want to be afraid of losing you again."

Damon swallowed hard. He was completely taken aback by the honest declaration and felt at a loss for words. He couldn`t swallow past the giant lump in his throat. He knew what he felt. And he was pretty sure that Ric knew it, too. So why couldn`t he just say it? Why was it so hard to say three little words?

Alaric stroked his cheek gently. "It`s okay. You don`t have to say anything." he assured. Damon could see no disappointment or anger in his eyes. Only understanding. Ric knew him like no-one else. He pulled Damon down and the older vampire cuddled against his side once more. He laid his head on Ric`s chest and listened to his steady heart-beat. His own heart was still racing.

Again they simply laid there for long minutes. Damon was waging an internal battle. Memories of Katherine swirled through his mind. Memories of her betrayal, of the pain he had felt, when he realized that she had never loved him. He frowned when he suddenly realized that she still had power over him. She had destroyed his life and he was allowing her to continue. He was allowing her to hold him back. He was letting the fear she had caused rule him.

"I love you, too." It was only a whisper, but he knew that Ric had heard him. He could hear Alaric`s heart-beat accelerate, while the teacher pulled him even closer and dropped a kiss on his temple. And all of a sudden he felt strangely liberated. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. A smile spread over his lips and he sighed happily. What did it matter that his brother was acting like a dick, or that the little witch seemed even more judgemental than usual? He had finally found what he had been searching for all his life. Someone who loved him unconditionally.


	4. Chapter 4

Alaric walked quickly through the halls of Mystic Falls High, trying in vain to ignore the curious looks he received. Three days had gone by since Mrs. Lockwood spread the news that it hadn`t been him who died in that car crash. And still everyone was staring at him and whispering behind his back. Probably the worst thing about it was that he could hear exactly what they were saying. Vampire-hearing had its down-sides after all.

He had just left the administration's office, where he had signed a new contract. After thinking it through for some time and discussing it with Damon, who had been anything but helpful, Ric had decided to take Carol Lockwood up on her offer and work as a history teacher again. He would start next week, although he still wasn`t really sure if it was the right thing to do.

He was still scared he might not be able to control his emotions and maybe even end up hurting a student. It was a fear he couldn`t shake, no matter how often Damon insisted that he was doing great. In the end he had only agreed to get his old job back, because he couldn`t find a good excuse not to do it. Officially he had only been home in Boston for a while, to help his parents while they recovered from an accident. Now he was back in Mystic Falls and what reason should he have for coming back, if not to resume his old life here? And that included his old job.

Even Damon had agreed in the end and had promised to help him as best as he could. Although Ric wasn`t sure if he had been joking when he`d offered to bring him a blood-bag during lunch break. After all, the dark haired vampire insisted vehemently that Ric had to learn how to drink directly from the source. And Ric had to admit that his arguments were pretty reasonable. Still, just the thought of feeding from a human scared him shitless. What if he wouldn`t be able to stop? If he accidently killed someone? Became a ripper? He was a nearly un-killable original vampire. Would Damon even be strong enough to stop him if he had to?

So far Damon had shown uncharacteristic patience with his boyfriend. He supplied him with blood-bags and taught him to control his emotions. He was a lot better at this than Alaric would have expected. On his first day back Damon had even allowed Ric to feed from him. Ric had been so afraid of hurting him. Of taking too much. But at that time it had been the best option. They`d been about to drive back from Lafayette, with no chance to get blood-bags on the way. Feeding from Damon had been better than not feeding at all and maybe even attacking Jeremy in the end.

And it had been an incredible experience. Alaric couldn`t really describe the feeling. It was like feeding from Damon had brought them that much closer together. The dark haired vampire had later confessed, that it was a very intimate act, to feed from another vampire. It was something that usually only lovers did. The fact that he had offered it made Ric love him even more.

Alaric stopped in the hallway to watch a dark haired guy, who was setting up some sort of exhibition with the help of a few students. Alaric had passed the guy in the hallway earlier and had found him strange, without being able to tell why. Something about him just felt off. Maybe it was the strange glint in his eyes. And what the hell was the guy doing over there? Ric saw mostly a bunch of old stones and wondered what could be so interesting about that.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" The teacher jumped in shock at the voice next to him. He had been so completely lost in thought that he hadn`t even heard Caroline approaching. "I just signed a new contract. Starting next week I`ll be your history teacher again." he explained, glad that at least the blonde was treating him normally. The other kids were all giving him pitying looks, obviously still convinced that Damon was just playing with him. The tense atmosphere was really grating on his nerves.

"That`s great. Your replacement was a complete idiot!" Caroline let him know. Ric laughed and looked back at the stranger. "Who is that?" The blonde followed his line of sight and shrugged. "Oh, that`s Professor Shane. He usually teaches at Whitmore College. He took over the classes of Bonnie`s Grams. He`s here to do an exhibition on occultism." she explained. "Occultism?" Ric questioned, wondering what that had to do with those old stones.

"He knows a lot about witches and stuff. Bonnie`s totally into him. He contacted her some time ago, because he`d found some stuff that belonged to her Grams. And he`s helping her with her magic. She`s spending a lot of time with him lately." Professor Shane glanced in their direction and Ric had to suppress a shudder. He couldn`t tell why, but the guy was creepy. "Is he a warlock?" That could explain his uneasy feeling. But Caroline shook her head. "No, just a normal human. But he knows a lot."

The teacher didn`t like that. Bonnie was behaving strangely and then there was this Professor, who knew a lot about witches and spent a lot of time with her… Sighing the teacher shook his head. He was just being paranoid. But still… "What do you think of him?" he asked the blonde. Caroline shrugged. "I don`t know. He seems nice. Bonnie really likes him. And he`s… well, hot." she mumbled. "But?" Ric prodded. „But… he`s a little… creepy." Caroline admitted.

"Good. At least I`m not the only one who feels it." Alaric murmured and Caroline looked at him in surprise. "You think he`s creepy, too?" she asked. "Yeah. I have no idea what it is, but the guy definitely gives me the creeps." he admitted, without taking his eyes off the Professor. "Yeah, well.. whatever it is, I feel it, too. But I`ve got to go now. See you later." Caroline finally took her leave.

Alaric mused that he should probably go home. Damon would be waiting for him and since he had to walk at human speed it would take some time. On the other hand he had a feeling that it might be a good idea to find out more about the strange Professor. Hesitating a little, he finally made his way over and looked at the old stones. A few seconds later the Professor greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hey, I don`t think we`ve met. I`m Atticus Shane." Ric shook his hand. „Alaric Saltzman. I`m the history teacher." he introduced himself.

Shane gave him a curious look. „Ah yes, the one who got resurrected from the dead." he commented. Ric had no idea if the guy had just heard the rumours and was trying to make a joke or if Bonnie had told him the truth. The way he was looking at him was strange. So he just nodded and forced a smile to his face. "Exactly."

Not giving Shane a chance to reply to that, Alaric pointed to the stones on the low table. "So, what`s all that?" The professor seemed very pleased by his interest and started explaining eagerly: "This is what people believed to be the world's first tombstone. It belonged to a very powerful witch. Maybe the most powerful of all times. Her story is fascinating and very tragic. Do you want to hear it?" Ric shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"It`s pretty much a tragic love story. The witch created a spell that would grant her and her lover immortality, so they`d never have to part. Sadly for her, Silas, her lover, wanted to give immortality to another woman. The end of the story is tragic, as can be expected. The witch killed the other woman and buried Silas alive, leaving him powerless, immortal, and alone, waiting for a chance to rise again."

Shane`s eyes had taken on a faraway-look, like he was seeing something, that wasn`t there. His voice sounded strange and Ric shuddered. The professor seemed to believe in that legend. Finally he shook himself out of his trance and looked at Ric again. "Really fascinating." the teacher agreed. "But I really have to get going. It was nice meeting you. And thanks for the story."

"Yes, of course. I`ll be here for a few more days. I`m sure we`ll meet again. And I hope you`re coming to the opening of my exhibition tomorrow." Alaric forced a smile to his face. "I`m not sure if I can make it." He took his leave and hastily walked away. After this brief encounter he was convinced that there was really something off about the professor.

###

When Alaric reached the boarding house Damon greeted him with the words: "What took you so long?" The teacher sighed. "Paper work. You know how it is. And I had to walk back from school." He wasn`t sure if he should tell his boyfriend about Professor Shane. He couldn`t even explain to himself why he didn`t trust the guy. "You could have called. I would`ve picked you up." Ric only shrugged and mused that he really needed to get a new car. His own had been destroyed in the accident Sheriff Forbes had staged to fake his death.

"When will you start working again?" the older vampire asked. "Next week." Damon rolled his eyes, obviously not happy about this answer. Ric walked over and pulled him into his arms. "Hey, I`m still unsure if it was a good idea or not myself. I`m scared of accidently eating a student, you know? But we talked about this and I thought we had agreed that I have no good excuse not to work as a teacher again."

"Yeah, we did." Damon agreed with a sigh. „And you won`t eat anyone. You like your students. Mostly. And you`re control is really good." He stopped himself from mentioning that Ric really had to learn how to drink from the source. They had been discussing this often enough over the last few days. He didn`t want to get into a fight again. He could even understand Ric`s fear. The teacher still had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he was a vampire now. After all, it wasn`t something he had chosen willingly. It had been forced on him.

Damon was trying really hard to help him. To see it from his point of view, to be patient and understanding. He could even understand him on some level. Stefan had practically forced him to complete the transition. It hadn`t been his choice either. But no matter how much he understood what Ric was going through, he knew it would do no good to let the teacher continue like this. Ric had to accept the fact that he was a vampire now. With everything that entailed.

Stefan had also offered his help, but the teacher had declined and told him to concentrate on Elena instead. The younger Salvatore had frowned and looked worried. He really believed he was the only one who could show a new vampire the ropes. Damon was still waiting to see how that would turn out for Elena, who only fed from animals so far. He was starting to worry that Stefan was unknowingly raising a new ripper. But that was probably Stefan`s problem.

"Want to head to the Grill?" the dark-haired vampire asked, changing the subject. Ric nodded. "Sure. But maybe I should…" He didn`t have to finish his sentence. Damon knew what he meant and had to bite his tongue so he wouldn`t start the by now familiar discussion. "You know where the blood-bags are." he mumbled without looking at his boyfriend. Ric didn`t reply, but Damon could hear him going downstairs and opening the freezer.

Once he had returned to the library he took Damon`s hand and waited, until the older vampire looked at him. "I know that you`re right. But.. I just need some more time. Okay?" he asked quietly. The older one sighed and nodded. Not much else he could do, when Ric was giving him that pleading and insecure look. "Okay." He would give him time. A day. Maybe two. „Thank you." the teacher whispered, dropping a quick kiss on his lips.

Since the inevitable discussion was postponed once more, they headed to the Mystic Grill and took their usual seats at the bar. Once again Ric could feel all eyes on himself, while the other guests gossiped among each other. Obviously there were still a few people who hadn`t heard of his return yet and were now being filled in by others. It was almost amusing how much the story Carol Lockwood had told the press had been altered by now. Just this morning Ric had heard the newest version, stating that he`d witnessed a murder and had been placed in the Witness protection program.

But no matter how funny it could be, all this getting stared at was really grating on his nerves. He hated being the centre of attention and he hated it even more, when people talked behind his back. Of course Damon noticed that. "Maybe we should give them a real reason to gossip." he suggested with a dirty grin. Ric chuckled, but quickly looked away. It wouldn`t do to give Damon ideas.

But then again, could it really get worse? Already people were staring at him. Pointing fingers at him and gossiping behind his back. And it didn`t look like they were going to stop anytime soon. Alaric hesitated a second and then made a spontaneous decision. Half-turning towards the older vampire he put his hand high on Damon`s leg. Damon raised his eyebrows and gave him a curious look. "Maybe you`re right." Ric murmured slowly. „Maybe it`s better to get it over with right now and give them something to talk about, then to wait a few more weeks and start this shit anew."

The teacher was all too aware of the many stares directed their way. It felt like everyone was watching them. But he didn`t want to keep his relationship secret. He had wasted too much time being afraid. So why not get it over with right now? Damon seemed very happy with that idea. With a grin he moved closer and sealed the teacher`s lips with a chaste kiss. Alaric kissed him back, albeit a little reluctantly. He hadn`t really expected this, but he also didn`t have objections. If they had to out themselves, why not do it with a bang?

The kiss lasted only a few seconds. After breaking apart they turned back to the bar. The noise was deafening. Ric could practically feel all the eyes staring at his back and some of what was being said he would`ve heard even without his enhanced hearing. Damon seemed to enjoy all the attention and the uproar they had caused. Ric on the other hand felt uncomfortable and was almost regretting his decision. But now it was too late to turn back.

"I met a certain Professor Shane earlier today. He`s helping Bonnie with her magic." he told Damon in an attempt to take his mind off of the whispering people around them. "Okay. So?" Damon looked like he didn`t understand the sudden change of topic. "That guy is creepy. I don`t know what it is, but… he gives me Goosebumps." Alaric admitted quietly. The older vampire gave him a curious look. He seemed about to make fun of him, but then thought better of it. "When he`s helping Bonnie he`s probably a witch as well. They can be creepy."

"No, Caroline said he`s a normal human. He just knows a lot about witches." Ric explained. "You discussed him with vampire Barbie?" Damon asked, clearly annoyed. „She was walking past when I was watching him. She feels it, too." The dark haired vampire snorted. "I can`t explain it, but… I have a bad feeling about the guy. I just think we should have an eye on him." the teacher continued.

Damon was about to answer, when suddenly Matt chimed in. The barkeeper had just put new drinks in front of them and heard the last of their talk. "You`re talking about Professor Shane?" The older vampire gave him a dark look, clearly annoyed at being interrupted. Alaric on the other hand was glad that Matt was talking to them normally again. "Yes, I met him earlier today. You know him?"

"I got roped into helping him set up his exhibition and he asked a lot of strange questions." the blond teen let them know. "What kind of questions?" Damon asked. „About Mystic Falls and the people who live here. He wanted to know if there had been strangers visiting lately. Or if there had been weird things happening. Stuff like that. And April said he knew her dad. Maybe I`m getting paranoid, but I think that`s suspicious." Matt answered eagerly.

"April?" Alaric couldn`t remember hearing that name before. He never had a student who was called April. "April Young. Pastor Young`s daughter. She went to a boarding school somewhere, but now she`s back. She`s living with her uncle`s family now." Matt explained. Damon and Alaric exchanged a quick look. They knew exactly what the other was thinking. A strange Professor, who was asking a lot of questions and who had also known the Pastor, who´s Farm had gotten blown up with most of the council members inside.

"Alright. I`m calling Liz. Maybe she can dig something up about that Professor." the dark haired vampire finally agreed. Ric nodded, glad that Damon was taking him seriously. Matt went back to work, while the two vampires enjoyed their drinks. But still Alaric could hear the mutters all around them. New guests had arrived and now were being told the exciting news.

He glanced over his shoulder when he heard someone mutter "fucking fags…", but he couldn`t tell who had said it. At least half of the other patrons were openly staring at him and Damon. Most of them looked away quickly, when he tried to meet their eyes. Then he looked to the door and spied Elena, Stefan and Bonnie entering the Grill. Great, just what he needed right now. He didn`t miss the dark look the young witch cast their way. Rolling his eyes in annoyance he turned back to Damon. "Let`s head back to your place."

Damon looked at him with raised eyebrows and seemed about to make a sarcastic comment. But then he spied the three supernatural teenagers heading their way and smirked. Ric was expecting the worst. And he was right, because seconds later Damon stated loudly: "No, Ric I don`t have handcuffs at home. But we could ask Sheriff Forbes to lend us some if you like."

Ric felt the sudden urge to throttle his boyfriend. Instead he emptied his glass and put some money on the counter, without looking at Matt. Pointedly ignoring Damon he got up and walked towards the exit, passing Elena, Stefan and Bonnie on his way. He greeted them with a nod and tried in vain to ignore their pitying looks.

Damon caught up to him when he reached the parking lot. "Come on, Ric. Don`t be such a bore. That was funny." the dark haired vampire insisted. „Maybe for you." Ric barked, searching his pockets for the car keys until he remembered that he didn`t have a car at the moment. They had driven here in Damon´s Camaro. He was seriously contemplating just walking home, when the older vampire appeared next to him and pressed him against the side of the car.

"I`m sorry. You know me. Sometimes I just do stupid things. Come home with me and I`ll make it up to you." Damon promised, giving him an innocent look. He didn`t look sorry at all. In fact he looked rather smug. But an apology was somewhat a novelty. For a few moments they just stood there. Finally Alaric relented. He pulled his boyfriend closer and hugged him. How the hell was he supposed to stay mad at Damon, when the guy kept looking at him like that? And he did know Damon. He should`ve known what he was getting himself into. "You better." he finally murmured.

They got into the car and Damon pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket. "I`m calling Liz." he explained, earning himself a sceptical look from Alaric. "Because of the weird Professor, Ric." Damon stated, rolling his eyes, before continuing with a grin: "But if you like I can also ask her about handcuffs." Ric had to bite back a grin himself. "No need. I think I`ve got some vervaine soaked ropes lying around somewhere." he shot back. "Ouch." Damon commented with a pout.

Then he gave the teacher a calculating look. "How about a compromise? We`ll find something that won`t burn both of us and I`ll let you tie me to the bed. Or to a chair or whatever." he purred. Ric bit his lip in thought. He wasn`t sure if his boyfriend was serious, but the offer was tempting. "Deal." he finally murmured, leaning back in his seat. Damon grinned and dialled Liz' number.

###

Once at the boarding house Damon "apologized" enthusiastically, but without ropes or anything. Afterwards they grabbed a bottle of bourbon and settled down in front of the fireplace. Alaric couldn`t remember the last time he had been able to just sit on the couch and read a book. The Salvatores had a rather spectacular library and Damon had generously told him to take whatever he wanted. The dark haired vampire had grabbed a book himself and was currently cuddled against Ric`s side, although he appeared to be dowsing instead of reading.

Of course the peace and quiet was short lived. All too soon they were interrupted by Elena and Stefan. "Half the town is gossiping about you two!" Elena stated accusingly. "Matt pretends he hasn`t seen anything, since he was back in the storage room, but Bethany Fell said you two were making out in the Grill." The brunette stopped in front of the couch and glared down at the two men, obviously waiting for them to deny it. Damon looked up at her over the edge of his book. "So?"

"You… you didn`t…" Elena stammered completely shocked. „Well, I wouldn`t they we were making out. It was only one innocent little kiss." the dark haired vampire murmured. The brunette shook her head, visibly searching for words. "What the hell were you thinking? Alaric?" she looked at the teacher, who had been quiet so far. Now he put his book down with a sigh and met her eyes. "I`m not keeping my relationship secret. And since everyone is already pointing fingers at me and whispering behind my back I thought it wouldn`t really change much."

"I don`t believe this!" Elena practically screamed, shaking her head and storming upstairs. Stefan, who had been strangely silent the whole time, just cast a speculating look towards his brother before following her. "Sounds like we`re the town gossip." Damon commented rather pleased with himself. Alaric didn`t answer. He was seriously contemplating not leaving the house for the next few days. Maybe the first uproar would die down then.

Shortly after Elena and Stefan had disappeared upstairs, where Ric could still hear them arguing, when he concentrated, they were again interrupted. This time it by the ringing of Damon´s cell phone. "Liz, my favourite Sheriff." the dark haired vampire joked. Ric rolled his eyes and listened in on their conversation. "Damon, I checked that Professor, like you asked me to. Well… for the most part he`s inconspicuous. No police record, not even a parking ticket or anything. But then something caught my eye."

"Okay, go on." Damon prodded. „I recognized his office number. It took me a moment to place it, but then I remembered that I had seen it while checking Pastor Young`s phone records. He called this number almost every day for the last month. And on the day of the explosion there were ten phone calls from Pastor Young to Professor Shane." Liz explained. Damon and Ric shared a quick look. „Okay, that is suspicious. Thanks for your help, Liz."

„Anytime. That`s my job." she assured. Hesitating a moment she continued: "Damon… I can`t do more here. I can`t even question Shane about Pastor Young, because the investigation concerning the explosion is closed. It was declared as a tragic accident. If he really had something to do with it…" she broke off, but Damon knew what she meant. "Ric and I are going to find out more about that Professor." he promised. Liz thanked him and hung up.

"Okay, you were right. There`s definitely something off about that guy." Damon had to admit. Alaric was glad that he hadn`t imagined things. Even though he would have preferred the alternative. After all, they had no idea what Shane wanted. "Maybe we should talk to him. Any idea where we can find him?" the dark haired vampire asked. "Yeah, at the school. He invited me to the opening of his exhibition tomorrow." Damon nodded. "Good. Then we`ll go to his exhibition."


	5. Chapter 5

Early next day Damon and Alaric went to the school, where Professor Shane was just opening his exhibition. He talked a little about his work, told the story Alaric had already heard yesterday and then encouraged everyone to look around. While the students wandered around, looking at the artefacts, the two vampires went to join the Professor.

"Mr. Saltzman, glad you could make it." Shane greeted them with a friendly smile. "How do you like the exhibition?" Ric forced himself to smile back. "It`s really interesting. Where did you get all this?" he wanted to know. "I journey a lot and if you know where to look or who to ask it`s quite easy to find interesting stuff." Shane answered evasively. "And what brings you to Mystic Falls?" Damon chimed in. „Well I`ve been doing this thing for a while now. It's like a one man traveling occult exhibit to small towns." was the next, vague answer. "But I don`t think we`ve met so far." the professor noticed.

"No, but I heard a lot about you. Damon Salvatore, pleasure to meet you in person." the vampire murmured with a smile. "Oh really? What exactly have you heard?" Shane asked. Damon smirked and Ric glanced around nervously, making sure no-one was paying attention to them. He was pretty sure his boyfriend was about to say something stupid any time now. When it came to questioning suspicious people, Damon was usually about as subtle as a brick.

"Oh a lot. You seem to know lots of things. And I`ve heard you`ve known quite a few citizens of this nice little town. Unfortunately for us, most of them are dead now. Like Pastor Young for example." Damon answered and Ric rolled his eyes. Just like he expected. „Yes, we met at Whitmore College, when the Pastor was teaching a theology seminar. But I wouldn`t say we really knew each other very well."

"Really? Well that`s strange, because I hear you two racked up a pretty impressive phone bill. Right up to the day he blew himself up." Damon stated. The professor stiffened, but tried to keep up his smile. "Was that an accusation? If you want to know something about me, Damon, just ask." Of course Damon didn`t have to be told twice. "Okay. How did you convince the Pastor to kill all those people?"

Alaric stifled a sigh. They really needed to work on Damon´s interrogation-techniques. Luckily no-one was paying attention to them. "Did you just accuse me of mass murder?" Shane asked with a disbelieving look. Damon simply shrugged. For a moment the professor met his stare. Then he shook his head and turned away, stating that there were people with relevant questions and that he couldn`t help Damon with his conspiracy theory.

"Great, Damon. Really subtle." Ric commented drily. „You could`ve chimed in any time, if you didn`t like my questions." the dark haired vampire snarked back. "So… what do you think?" Ric changed the subject, not wanting to get into a fight. Damon was right after all. He could`ve at least tried to intervene. "About Professor Creepy? I guess you`re right. There`s something off about him." the older vampire admitted.

They spent a few more minutes watching Shane, but the guy was behaving completely normal. He talked to students and teachers, answered questions and explained different artefacts, always with a friendly smile and an aura of extreme patience. Alaric and Damon shared a look and then left the building. "And now? We didn`t exactly learn anything helpful. And I don´t think he`ll be more chatty if we try again." Ric mused. "We could ask with a little more force next time." Damon suggested, even though he already knew Ric would say no.

"Torture him, you mean? No way, Damon." Ric declined. „The guy may be shady, but maybe we`re wrong about him." The dark haired vampire rolled his eyes. Sometimes his boyfriend was totally boring. "Alright, no torture. That leaves only one option: We need to snoop around a bit. You said he usually teaches at Whitmore College?" he asked. "Yeah, Caroline said he took over the classes of Bonnie`s Grams." the teacher confirmed. "Okay. Let´s start there."

Sounded logical, so Ric agreed. Plus, it would also mean a little trip and he was glad for any chance to leave town for a day or two. His enthusiasm was quickly dimmed however, when Damon suddenly decided: "That would also be the perfect opportunity for you to learn how to drink from the source." Alaric looked at his boyfriend slowly, searching for words. But Damon beat him to it. "I know you said you need time. And I understand. But the longer you wait, the more you`re getting yourself caught up in this crazy idea that you`ll rip someone`s head off. You need to learn, Ric. I thought we agreed on that."

Damn, how could he say no, when Damon suddenly tried logic and understanding? With a sigh he finally agreed. "Alright. But you…" he didn`t need to finish that sentence. "Don`t worry. I won`t let you kill someone. I`ll be watching you like a hawk. If it makes you feel better I can pack a few vervaine darts and knock you out in case of emergency." The younger vampire was pretty sure that his boyfriend was only joking, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah, do that. And don`t hesitate to use them."

Damon rolled his eyes and got into the car. "Stop being so damn melodramatic. You`re almost as bad as Stefan. Nothing`s gonna happen." Ric slumped into the passenger seat and chose not to comment on that. "When are we going?" he asked instead. "How about right now? We can be there by early afternoon and the sooner we find out more about Professor Creepy the better." the dark haired vampire reasoned. "Okay." Ric agreed.

They packed a few things and Ric wrote a quick message for Elena and Jeremy, to let them know that they would be gone for a few days. Once again the teacher mused that he really needed a new car. It was really annoying to have to rely on Damon´s showy little Camaro. Even if he had to admit that the car was really fast. Especially with Damon driving.

The two vampires reached Whitmore College in no time at all and looked around curiously. "Where do we start?" Ric asked. Damon shrugged. „His office? Even if we can find out where he lives, we won`t be able to get in." he reasoned. The teacher had to admit that he was right, so they went to the reception desk and asked where Shane`s office was. The bored looking secretary didn`t even feel the need to tell them that Shane wasn`t here. She merely gave them the room-number and pointed them in the right direction, before going back to her crossword-puzzle.

The two of them went into the direction she had pointed at. Damon was counting the numbers and was just about to mention that they should reach the right office soon, when Ric suddenly grabbed his arm, pulled him around the corner and pushed him against the wall. The dark haired vampire raised an eyebrow in question. "Not that I don`t appreciate this spontaneous idea, but I think we`d have a little more privacy in Shane´s office." he commented with a smirk.

Alaric however wasn`t trying to kiss him or rip his clothes off, like he had expected. Instead the younger vampire held him firmly pressed to the wall and told him to be quiet, while he glanced around the corner. "What`s wrong?" Damon asked, now completely puzzled. „That guy over there… that`s the hunter." Ric whispered. Damon glanced around the corner as well and spied a tall, dark-skinned guy, who was pounding on the door of some office. "What hunter?" he muttered, still not understanding. "The hunter who tried to kill Tyler at the memorial." Ric grumbled and pulled him back.

„Are you sure? Stefan said the guy was dead." Damon reminded him. But he had to admit that he looked somewhat familiar. "I am sure." Ric insisted and cast another glance at the hunter. Damon did the same, ignoring Ric´s protest to stay hidden. "I think that`s Shane`s office he`s trying to get into." the older vampire whispered. Alaric pushed him back again and both vampires held their breath, when they heard the guy starting to pace. After a few seconds he stopped again and pulled out his cell phone.

"I told you not to call me. I thought I had made myself clear!" they could distinctly hear Professor Shane`s voice on the other end of the line. "Why the hell did you send me to Mystic Falls? Do you have any idea what I've been through? I've spent days chained up by an Original vampire." the hunter barked. Damon and Ric exchanged surprised looks. Shane mumbled some nonsense about Klaus and how to kill a hybrid and the hunter complained that he could`ve used this knowledge.

"We had a deal." the professor reminded him. "You want to know why I sent you to Mystic Falls? Because you need to kill vampires to complete your hunters mark. And there`s no shortage of vampires in this town. So stop whining and go do your job. And remember to leave the witch out of it. She`s essential for my plans." he ordered, before hanging up. The hunter grumbled something and disappeared down the corridor.

Damon and Alaric slowly left their hiding place. Finally Damon remembered where he had seen that guy. "I saw him at the Grill once. He wanted to talk to Liz." Ric nodded absently, still staring along the corridor as if he was afraid the hunter might come back. "So… Professor Creepy set the weird hunter-guy on us." the dark-haired vampire mused. "Let´s have a look around his office. I want to know what he`s up to." Ric decided.

Of course the office door was locked. The teacher had already expected this and had come prepared. He pulled a pocket-knife out of his jacket and started working on the lock. Only seconds later the door opened. "You can pick locks?" Damon asked, clearly impressed. Ric shrugged a little sheepishly. „Well, I did some stupid things in my youth." he mumbled. "Good to know." the older vampire grinned.

They snuck into the office and closed the door quietly behind them. Damon wasn`t sure what he`d been expecting, but the office looked disappointingly normal. The desk was littered with papers and there were a few shelves filled with books and files. Only here and there he could see a strange artefact, but those could just as well be souvenirs from a holiday. Everything looked a little chaotic, but not at all creepy. When he mentioned that, Ric gave him a mocking look. "What were you expecting? Skulls and candles? A talking witch hat?"

„I wasn`t expecting this." Damon mumbled with a pout. "Let`s go through the desk first." the teacher decided. Damon agreed and they started by looking through the papers on top of the desk. Most of it was related to Shane`s classes. Lesson plans, half-corrected essays and notes about some students. The only interesting thing was a small slip of paper which had different names scribbled on it. Bonnie Bennett was among them.

"He said to that hunter guy that the witch is essential for his plans. So whatever he´s planning, he needs Bonnie to do it." Ric mumbled. He thought back to his last encounters with the young witch and shuddered. She had changed. She seemed angry and almost evil. Darker somehow. His unease was growing.

The drawers proved a little more interesting. Ric had to pick the locks on two of them, but he was rewarded with a bunch of research. He scanned it quickly. "This says something about a fellowship of the five and a hunters mark. Wasn`t Shane talking about a hunters mark?" he asked. "Yeah, he said the guy had to kill vampires to complete it." Damon agreed, pulling out another stack of papers. "Here is some stuff about that Silas-guy. And I`ve seen the name Quetsiah quite a few times. Why does that sound familiar?" the dark haired vampire mused.

"Quetsiah? I think I`ve heard that before. But I can`t place it right now." Ric had to admit. "I think it would be best if we made copies of everything that looks interesting. Then we can go through it at home." he suggested. Damon nodded. "Good idea. Can you make the copies, while I go through the shelves? The sooner we`re out of here, the better." The office wasn`t actually creepy, but being here still gave him the creeps. There was definitely something shady about that professor.

"Sure. I think I saw a copier back there somewhere." Ric agreed. He grabbed the documents they had found so far, slipped through the door and headed back in the direction they had come from. Luckily the hallways were pretty deserted and the few people he passed didn`t pay him much attention. He reached the right room without problems and breathed a sigh of relief to find it empty. Still he kept glancing over his shoulder nervously, while he made copies of Shane`s documents.

When he was finished he grabbed everything and was just about to leave the room, when suddenly a security guard blocked his way. Ric jumped in shock. "Sorry, didn`t see you." he apologized without looking at the guard, trying to push past him. That obviously caught the guy´s attention, because he stopped Ric. "I don`t think we`ve met. And I usually have a very good memory." The teacher cursed inwardly. „I`m new here." he lied, which only served to make the guard more suspicious. "Is that so? I wasn`t informed about a new professor."

Ric finally looked at the guy directly and spoke calmly. "You must`ve forgotten it. I`ve been working here for a week now. And now please let me pass. I`m in a hurry." The security guard nodded and stepped aside. „I forgot it. You`ve been working here for a week." he repeated in a monotone voice. Ric gave him a suspicious look, until he realized that he had obviously just compelled the guy without even meaning to.

"Not bad for the first time." Damon murmured, suddenly showing up behind him. Alaric whirled around to face him. "I.. I didn`t mean… It was an accident." he stammered, causing Damon to grin. „Whatever. Since you`re already at it, tell him to leave and forget us." Ric hesitated, but Damon urged him to go on, so he turned back to the guard. "You never saw us. We were never here. And now go and don`t come back for an hour or so." he ordered. The guard turned around and left. Ric watched him go with mixed emotions. On one hand he was rather proud of himself, for being able to compel him so easily. On the other hand it was a little frightening how easy it had been.

"I found a few more things that look promising. But mostly it was just some weird books. And I found a cupboard filled with about a dozen candles and a few jars containing herbs." Damon let the younger vampire know. "Okay. I`ll make copies of that. Then we can put it back and get the hell out of here." Ric decided, taking the papers and quickly putting them in the copier.

They put the documents back into the drawers and then looked at the herbs. "Do you think those are witchy herbs? Or maybe he smokes them?" Damon mused. Ric just shrugged. Herbs really weren`t his area of expertise. „No vervaine." he noticed and Damon nodded. After discussing it for a moment they put the herbs back into the cupboard, grabbed the copies and left. The secretary was still engrossed in her crossword puzzle and didn`t even look at them as they passed her desk.

"Okay, that was helpful. And informative." Damon murmured, while they left the building and walked back towards the car. "Yes, I think the drive paid off. I only hope we can find out what he`s up to." Alaric agreed. He turned his head and found that Damon was no longer listening. The dark haired vampire was looking at a flyer. Ric didn`t like the way he was grinning. He was fearing the worst and his fears were confirmed when Damon passed him the flyer and declared: "I know what we`ll be doing tonight."

"A murder house party? Aren`t we a bit too old for stuff like that?" the teacher asked sceptically. "You`re never too old for college parties, Ric." Damon chastised. „And besides, that party is the perfect place for your first lesson in snatch, eat, erase. Lots of willing victims and no-one paying attention to what´s going on in the dark corners." Alaric swallowed hard. He had concentrated only on professor Shane and completely forgotten that they were here for a different reason as well.

Damon however didn`t give him time to dwell on it. He grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the car. "Come on. We need to find outfits. Do you want to go as killer or victim?"


	6. Chapter 6

Two hours later Alaric was stretched out on the ridiculously large bed in the comfortable suite Damon had gotten them. The teacher would have been happy just staying at a motel, but his boyfriend had demanded to stay in a four star hotel instead. Ric doubted that he would pay for the suite. It was the only explanation why Damon had insisted on going to the reception desk alone and had made Ric wait outside in the car.

He looked up when the dark haired vampire emerged from the bathroom and had to smile. Damon had dragged him into a costume store and had suddenly been obsessed with the idea of going as Jack the Ripper. Ric had humoured him, but had insisted that he didn´t need a costume as well. After some discussions Damon had called him a bore and had given up.

"Come on, up with you. The frat girls are waiting for us." Damon grinned. Ric thought he looked way to giddy about the prospect of snacking on a bunch of young girls. He had to bite his tongue to keep from reminding Damon once again not to let him kill anyone. The older vampire had promised him again and again to watch him. He would keep his promise, even without being reminded again.

With a sigh Alaric got up and followed his boyfriend. The drive to the campus took only about ten minutes. Ric would`ve liked to postpone the inevitable a little longer. They reached the house where the party was being held and were invited in by some pimple faced boy, who mumbled something about free drinks. The house was dimly lit and filled with people. It smelled strongly of smoke, sweat and alcohol. Loud music was blaring from the speakers.

Damon led him into the main room and pointed to a group of girls, dancing wildly. "Pick your poison." Ric`s heart was hammering and he felt nervous as hell. But Damon was right. He had to learn. He had to do this now. He scanned the dance floor and his eyes landed on a pretty little brunette, who was just walking off the dance floor. Damon followed his line of sight. "Cute." he commented. „Okay, go over there and do exactly what I told you."

Alaric took a deep breath and went over to intercept the girl. He could practically feel Damon´s eyes on himself. Knowing that his boyfriend was watching gave him courage. The girl looked suspicious for a second, but instantly reacted to his compulsion. "Be calm. Don`t scream. I`m not going to hurt you." he promised, before casting a glance back at Damon, who nodded encouragingly.

Another deep breath, then Ric was pulling the girl towards himself. He leaned over her and sank his fangs into her tender neck, groaning when her sweet, hot blood rushed into his mouth. It was completely different from blood-bags. He could hear her heart-beat, her slightly erratic breathing, feel her soft skin, that smelled faintly of roses. And her blood was hot and so good, rushing into his mouth, strengthening him and he never wanted to stop drinking. But he reminded himself that she was human. After a few gulps he reluctantly pulled away, licked the last drops from his lips and felt his features returning to normal.

All of a sudden Damon was next to him and there was no mistaking his proud grin. "See, wasn`t that hard, was it? Now tell her to forget everything. And give her a drop of blood to heal the bite-mark." he instructed. Alaric did as he was told and gave her a drop of his blood. "Forget what just happened. You never saw me." he ordered. The girl continued on her way like nothing had happened. Damon was still grinning. "More?" he asked. Finally Ric allowed a grin to spread over his face as well. „More." he agreed and went looking for his next victim.

He stopped counting after the third girl. Damon was no longer watching him. Ric could see him a few feet away, feeding on a redhead. But he wasn`t worried. It was a lot easier than he`d expected. Of course there was always the temptation to just keep drinking until the girl was dead. But he just needed a little will-power and the reminder that he didn`t want to hurt anyone to resist that temptation.

All too soon he was getting almost high on fresh blood. He could practically feel how he got stronger and more powerful with each sip. At this moment he felt truly indestructible. His eyes scanned the room for another victim and a bark of laughter bubbled out of him. He didn`t even know what was so funny. Maybe the dark-skinned girl with the wild locks, who was flirting shamelessly and trying to lure him into a dark corner. Smirking Alaric followed her. Her blood tasted rich and spicy.

He lost all sense of time. Couldn`t tell if they had been at the party for hours or only minutes. If it was still dark outside or already getting close to morning. He didn`t care. After a while he found himself on the dance floor. In front of him was a tall blonde, who smelled strongly of alcohol and some fruity shower gel. "Be calm. Don`t scream." The words flowed from his lips. He smirked when he spied Damon, who suddenly appeared behind the blonde. Both of them leaned forward and bit down. A few gulps and Ric pulled away, watched Damon do the same. He gave the girl some blood and she stumbled her way.

Damon moved closer, put his arms around Ric`s neck and tried to get the teacher to dance with him. With a laugh Alaric complied, even though he usually hated dancing. His arms found their way around Damon´s waist and he pulled the dark haired vampire even closer. "How are you feeling?" the older vampire asked. "Good. Really good." Understatement of the century. He felt great. Incredibly alive. The dim light seemed so much brighter than it had when they first arrived. The loud music made his whole body vibrate. Damon seemed to glow in an unearthly light. „You`re so fucking beautiful." the teacher rasped and Damon laughed.

Completely ignoring everyone around them, Ric´s hand moved to Damon´s neck and he pulled him closer for a kiss. It was no innocent, chaste kiss like the one they had shared yesterday at the Grill. Their lips met roughly and when Damon´s tongue pushed against Ric´s lips he opened them willingly. Their tongues moved over and around each other, fighting for dominance. When they finally pulled apart, both were breathing hard.

"Let´s get out of here." Damon suggested and Ric didn`t have to be told twice. He took his boyfriend`s hand, linking their fingers together and led him out. No-one seemed to take notice and at that moment the teacher couldn`t have cared less. He only had eyes for Damon. The fresh blood was pulsating in his veins and his jeans felt uncomfortably tight. This time the drive back to the hotel took less than eight minutes, which still felt like an eternity to Alaric.

Once inside the lift he pushed the dark haired vampire against the wall and claimed his lips in another kiss. His hands found their way underneath Damon`s shirt, caressing the soft skin. The lift stopped and they stumbled into their suite without letting go of each other, shedding clothes as they went. Damon giggled when Ric pushed him down onto the large bed and followed by crawling over him. "We should go to college parties more often." he mumbled against the soft skin of the teacher`s neck. "Sounds like a plan." Ric agreed. At that moment he would agree to pretty much anything Damon proposed.

"I`m going to hold you to that." the dark-haired vampire warned, pushing the lube he had retrieved from his bag into his boyfriend`s hand. Ric instantly put the lube to use, preparing Damon with clever fingers, before replacing them with his throbbing cock. Damon gasped, wrapped his legs around Ric`s waist and arched against him. One of his hands fisted in the expensive sheets, the other moved erratically over Ric`s broad back, his fingernails creating deep, bloody gashes that healed almost instantly.

Alaric bend down to kiss Damon again, while he continued thrusting into the willing body beneath him at an almost brutal pace, Damon`s moans spurring him on even further. He wrapped one hand around the dark-haired vampire`s erection, pumping it in time with his thrusts. Neither vampire heard the expensive sheets ripping in Damon´s strong grip. All too soon Damon felt himself propelled over the edge, the double stimulation proving too much for him. Alaric followed only seconds later, collapsing down on top of his boyfriend.

After a while he pulled away reluctantly, rolling onto his back. For a moment they just laid there side by side, trying to catch their breath. Damon`s eyes scanned the ruined bed, noting the ripped, bloody sheets and he chuckled. Ric followed his line of sight and grinned as well. "Oops." he murmured a little sheepishly, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend again. Lovingly this time and with less force. They kept on kissing for a few minutes, sharing gentle touches, feeling desire stirring once more.

Damon gasped when Ric rolled him partially onto his side, spooned behind him and pushed into him again. This time their lovemaking was slow and gentle. Two bodies in perfect sync, moving in a rhythm that existed only for them. Alaric`s lips trailed over Damon`s shoulders and neck, causing goose bumps to rise on the dark haired vampire`s skin. "I love you." the teacher whispered, sinking his fangs gently into Damon`s neck, coaxing a whimper from his lips. "Love you… too." Damon answered, groaning when Ric`s talented hands brought him to orgasm again, just as he felt Ric filling him once more.

They laid cuddled together, as close as two bodies could be. After a while they stumbled into the bathroom, cleaning off, before crawling into bed again. "We`re definitely going to go to college parties more often." Damon decided, snuggling against Alaric`s hairy chest. The teacher just groaned in response, while he pulled the covers over both of them.


	7. Chapter 7

Alaric was the first to wake next morning. He just stayed where he was and thought back to last night. Somehow it all felt unreal in the light of the new day. After the first taste of blood he had felt almost like he was on drugs. Everything had been so much more intense. He had felt alive like he hadn`t in years. Which was pretty ironic, considering that he was technically dead.

"Feeling guilty about last night?" Damon´s voice suddenly cut through his musings. Ric thought about it for a second and then shook his head. "Not really. I mean… I didn`t hurt anyone, right?" he mumbled. „Of course you didn`t. You were great. Like I said, there was never any danger of you killing someone." the dark-haired vampire agreed, before asking: "Any other pangs of conscience we need to talk about?" The teacher hesitated. If he was completely honest he had to admit that he was a little shocked about his own behaviour. He almost didn`t recognize himself.

But, no that wasn`t completely true. Yesterday he had acted like back in his early college days. Back then he had spent nights drinking with his buddies, making out with girls or boys he didn`t even know the names of, waking up in stranger´s beds the next morning. Last night he had been the young, carefree and reckless Alaric of his early college years, not the responsible, grown up teacher and guardian to two kids.

"Is it always like this?" he asked after a while. Damon cuddled against him, putting his head on Ric`s chest. "No, not really. When you just feed because you`re hungry it`s… less fun." he explained slowly. "But you proved that you can control it. That you can enjoy it. That`s the whole secret." Ric glanced down on him. „The whole secret?" he repeated questioningly. „Why I can drink my fill and leave someone breathing and not rip their head off like my brother. It's because I can revel in it. I can make it fun. I`ve accepted what I am. And so have you."

Ric thought about it for a moment. Yes, he had accepted what he was, he supposed. Or at least he was starting to accept it. "So that means when I`ve been able to control myself last night, high on blood, it`s unlikely that I`ll kill someone next time, when I just feed because I`m hungry?" he wanted to know. "Exactly. And you`ve got to admit. It was fun." Damon smirked. „Alright, it was fun. Even if I`m a little worried about how much fun it was. I would`ve never thought it would be so easy to get lost in all this." the younger vampire admitted quietly. "You won`t start having too much fun, don`t worry. You`ve got too much of a conscience for that." the older one shrugged it off, making Ric laugh.

And yes he had to admit, it had been fun. And he still felt damn good. Casting a glance at his watch he decided that it was still too early to get up. Damon agreed, so they spend the next hour by completely destroying the already ruined bed, before heading to the bathroom to shower together. Afterwards they ordered room service and tried to sort the papers from Shane`s office.

"He`s totally obsessed with this Silas-guy." Damon mumbled around a mouthful of bagel. Indeed the name Silas was found in most of Shane`s documents, mostly in connection with different legends. "Listen to that: When Silas rises again he will bring on hell on earth. The dead will return to take revenge." Alaric read. Damon frowned. „That guy´s a freak."

After finishing their breakfast they packed up, without having learned much. On first sight it was just a bunch of legends and horror stories. But Alaric had a feeling that this impression would prove wrong. They would have to take their time and go through the papers one by one. Something Damon wasn`t looking forward to at all. He had always found research incredibly boring. It was hard for him to concentrate on something that didn`t really hold an interest.

Unfortunately Ric was extremely good at this stuff. He could sit pouring over papers for hours on end, forgetting everything around him in the process. And when he was interrupted he got bitchy. Which meant that Damon would be having a problem, if he dared to distract his boyfriend. He remembered all too well the times when Ric had insisted on writing his lesson plans, instead of going to the Grill with him. Usually it had ended with a fight. Something he really wanted to avoid today. Hopefully it would be easier to distract Ric with sex than with the promise of Bourbon.

A little reluctantly they finally left the hotel and drove back to Mystic Falls. Entering the Gilbert home they were met by the sight of Elena, Caroline, Bonnie and a dark-haired girl, who were discussing dresses, as far as Ric could tell. The girls fell silent, as soon as the two vampires entered the living room. Caroline greeted them with a smile, while Bonnie gave them a dark look that sent chills down Alaric`s spine. He remembered Professor Shane`s words and wondered, what the guy had planned. It couldn`t be good, that much was for sure. But he was certain that the young witch wouldn`t believe them, so he kept quiet.

Elena introduced the dark-haired girl as April Young, the Pastor`s daughter and explained that they were just making plans for the Miss Mystic Falls competition in two days. The girls had obviously persuaded April to compete for the title and were now helping her. She didn`t look all that happy about it, but she listened intently to Caroline and Elena`s suggestions.

Bonnie on the other hand was glaring daggers at Damon and Alaric. The teacher was starting to wonder if she was trying to give them aneurysms. "Maybe we should head over to your place and leave the girls to their planning." he suggested. Damon readily agreed and they headed out. The dark-haired vampire seemed just as glad as Alaric to escape Bonnie`s death-stare and Caroline`s talk about dresses.

Back at the boarding house they met Jeremy and Anna, who were just about to leave. Jeremy wanted to know what exactly they had been doing, since Ric`s message had been rather vague. "We tried to get some more information about that professor." the teacher explained. "Shane? The one with the weird exhibition?" the teen asked. "Yep, exactly that professor." Damon confirmed. "Why?" Jeremy kept on questioning them. Damon rolled his eyes. "Because we`re looking for a new drinking buddy." he replied sarcastically.

"Hey, no need to get bitchy." Jeremy grumbled. He would never get that damn vampire. Sometimes Damon could be a really decent guy and relatively easy to talk to and other times he reacted bitchy to everything you said. The guy was moody like a cat. He`d never understand what Anna could find cute or charming about him. Judging by her grin she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Something about Shane just seemed off. And Sheriff Forbes found out that he got regular calls from Pastor Young, right up to the day of the explosion. We just wanted to find out more." Alaric intervened, giving his boyfriend a pointed look, which Damon chose to ignore. "And what did you find out?" Jeremy asked his guardian. He decided to just ignore Damon. Probably the best thing he could do. "Not much so far. But it looks like Shane set that hunter on us." Ric growled. "Who`s not dead, by the way. No matter what my brother said. Or maybe he`s a zombie." Damon chimed in.

"Did Stefan tell you how the hunter died?" Ric asked his boyfriend, completely ignoring the zombie-comment. Damon thought back to the talk with his brother. "No, now that I think about it… he didn`t say anything. Just that the hunter is no longer a problem." Not really much information. But back then Damon hadn`t really cared. He had been completely focused on getting Alaric back. "The guy said he was held captive by Klaus." the teacher remembered. Damon nodded thoughtfully. "Which means, either Klaus secretly caught him and told Stefan he was dead or… my brother lied to me and allied himself with Klaus."

"Why should he do that?" Anna wanted to know, speaking up for the first time. Damon shrugged. "How the hell should I know. Maybe Klaus promised him something. Or Stefan was dumb enough to stop taking vervaine and got himself compelled." he mused. Which made him remember that he hadn`t been taking vervaine either for a while. He should really change that. But Ric seemed rather prone to biting him in the heat of the moment and he couldn`t deny that he liked that. So maybe not.

"We should talk to Stefan about it. Find out more." Alaric decided, before asking Jeremy and Anna where he was. The two teens could only tell him that Stefan had left the house about two hours ago, without telling them where he would be going or when he would be back.

"Okay, we`ve got to get going." Anna stated after checking her watch. Jeremy grimaced, which caused Ric to ask what they had planned. "Shopping. I need a dress." the female vampire declared. "You were shopping a couple of days ago." Damon reminded her. "Yeah, normal clothes. I need a ball gown." Anna said exasperated. "Anna will be competing for the title of Miss Mystic Falls in two days." Jeremy explained. Damon and Alaric looked at the girl in surprise. "I was supposed to enter in 1864. Mama was so excited about it. She talked about little else for days. But then I never got the chance. I want to do this for her."

"That`s a wonderful idea." Alaric commented with a smile. "And you`ve chosen little Gilbert as your style-guide? You can say goodbye to the tiara." Damon joked. The teen protested, but Damon just waved a hand at him and declared: "Come on, look at you. No style whatsoever." Jeremy gave him a dark look. "Who do you think she should take shopping? You?" the teen snarked back, once again annoyed at Damon´s arrogance. And that irritating smirk made him want to punch the vampire. "I would be the best choice of course." came the reply he had been expecting.

Alaric was watching the exchange with a calculating smile. He knew that Damon didn`t want to help him with the documents from Shane`s office. He would most likely keep him from work, instead of helping him. And Jeremy didn`t look happy about the prospect of yet another shopping trip with his girlfriend. So maybe the dark-haired vampire had the right idea here. "Alright… since Damon is offering himself as style-guide, why don`t you help me with the documents, Jeremy, while those two go shopping for a dress?" the teacher offered.

He received three disbelieving stares. "I never offered to …" Damon started, but Ric cut off his protest with a kiss. That was starting to become his favourite method of shutting Damon up. It also had the positive side-effect that it got the two teens to shut up as well. "Come on, Damon. I know you don`t want to go through Shane`s documents with me. By the time you get back, Jeremy and I will be nearly finished and we can find something else to do." Alaric offered, once their lips had parted. The dark-haired vampire gave him a calculating look. "Okay, fine. But you`ll have to make it up to me when I get back." he warned. Ric grinned. He was looking forward to that.

Anna gave in as well. "You didn`t really want to go shopping again, did you?" she asked her boyfriend. Jeremy gave her an apologetic look. "Not really, no." he admitted. She sighed. „Okay. Then stay here and help Alaric." She turned to Damon and warned: "Nothing pink. Or I`m staking you." The older Salvatore snorted in disgust. "What do you think of me?" Alaric watched the two vampires disappear through the front door, arguing all the way. "Nothing black. It`s a beauty pageant, not a funeral." he heard Damon say, before the door closed behind them.

"Do you think that´s a good idea?" Jeremy asked doubtfully. The teacher just shrugged. "I know that you`ll be more of a help to me than Damon would`ve been. And they won`t kill each other." At least he hoped so.


	8. Chapter 8

The drive to the mall passed mostly in uncomfortable silence. Damon was drumming his fingers onto the steering wheel nervously, wondering why the hell he had agreed to Ric`s stupid idea. He had no idea how to start a conversation with Anna. He barely knew the girl. Back in 1864 he`d never really paid attention to her. She had always been hanging around her mother, but he couldn`t remember even talkling to her back then.

He had really consciously noticed her the first time over 100 years later, when she had tried to trick him into helping her open the tomb. Her fierce determination had been kinda impressive and he had realized that she wasn`t one to be trifled with. But after the tomb was open she had returned to her mother`s shadow and he hadn`t paid her any more attention. Until the night he saw her die, wishing desperately he could have saved her.

"So… Miss Mystic, hu?" he finally spoke up when the silence got too much. Anna gave him a cool look and wondered herself why she was sitting here with him now. They barely knew each other and never really had much dealings in the past. Aside from all the things she had told Jeremy about the human Damon she had always thought of him as a stupid, lovesick fool and kinda pitied him. He wasn`t the first and neither the last idiot that had gotten his heart ripped out by Katherine Pierce. Anna knew all too well how many men had been destroyed by their love for Katherine.

And while she was glad that Damon had managed to recover from Katherine`s betrayal it still didn`t mean they were suddenly friends. He would probably mock her anyways. "You got a problem with that?" she finally asked. "I wouldn`t be taking you shopping if I did." Damon shot back, steering the Camaro onto the parking lot of the mall.

They got out of the car and he steered her towards a shop for expensive ladies evening wear. "Should I be worried that you know so well where to go?" she joked. "Not at all. I look hot in a dress." Damon exclaimed with a straight face. Anna gigled against her will. „Oh god, I`ll never get rid of that image." she moaned. Damon grinned and started looking through the dresses. "So, how come you know this place?" Anna wanted to know.

„I was sort of dating Caroline Forbes for a while. Long story. She dragged me in here quite a few times." the dark-haired man explained with a shrug, before reaching for a frilly purple dress and presenting it to her with a perfectly solemn expression. "You`re kidding!" she growled, causing Damon to laugh. "Yeah, but I would`ve loved to see you try it on." he admitted. Anna took the dress and firmly put it back onto the rack. "Either you start taking this serious or you can wait in the car." she threatened. She hadn`t taken him with her so he could make fun at her expanse.

For a second he just stared at her and she almost expected him to turn around and walk off. Then he suddenly murmured: "You`re really serious about this." Anna shrugged and looked away. "Of course I am." she muttered. Damon didn`t reply, but instead he really walked away. She was just starting to wonder if he would drive back home and leave her stranded here, when he suddenly returned with a beautiful blue satin dress. "Something like that then?"

Surprised she took the dress and looked it over. "Yeah, exactly like that. You even guessed my size." she noted in wonder. Damon`s eyes swept over her body in a way she`d better not describe to Jeremy later. It looked like he was undressing her with his stare and she felt the sudden urge to cross her arms over her breasts. "Got an eye for it." he bragged with a wink. Anna raised her eyebrows. "Don`t waste your non-existent charms on me. You were never my type." she claimed dryly, hoping against hope that he wouldn`t notice that he had affected her. Fucking Salvatore-charms. He just shrugged and turned away. "You`re not my type either." he let her know, before he started looking through the dresses again.

About 30 minutes later Anna had found the perfect dress and had to admit grudgingly that he did have taste. Everything he had shown her had been really beautiful and fit perfectly. But she could`ve done without his sarcastic comments about some of the dresses she had picked. Stupid idiot. He paid for the dress, giving her a smug grin, before exiting the store.

Hesitating just a little Anna thanked him. He had even paid for the dress after all. "Don´t mention it. You really needed my help after all." he needled. Anna rolled her eyes and shot back: „You know, I`m really surprised I never noticed you`re gay. It`s so obvious." Damon stopped abruptly and turned to stare at her. "I`m not gay." he claimed. "Really? Could`ve fooled me, considering the noises you and Alaric make…" Damon`s lips curled into a smile almost automatically when she said Ric`s name and she wondered if he realized how utterly besotted he was. "I`m just… flexible." he explained.

She nodded and couldn`t hold back her grin any longer. "Right, that`s it." she agreed like he was a child and grinned only harder when he seemed speechless for once. Usually he always had a witty comeback. "I need shoes." Anna exclaimed, before he could recover and say something evil. The older Salvatore rolled his eyes and handed her a credit card. "I`ll be in the shop over there. Don`t take too long." he warned, before heading for a men`s store.

When Anna joined him a short while later he was just selecting a tie. "Found what you were looking for?" he asked without looking at her. "Yeah, I did. What about you? Need a tie for the party?" Damon finally chose a tie and turned to face her. "Nope. This one is for Ric. Goes perfectly with the suit I just found him." he sounded like it was perfectly normal for him to buy clothes for his boyfriend.

"Little Gilbert is your escort, right?" he asked suddenly. Anna nodded, wondering what he was getting at now. "Okay, pick a suit for him." The female vampire gave him a curious look. "I think he has one. He would`ve said something if he needed one." she reasoned, but Damon just snorted. "We didn`t get you the perfect dress to have little Gilbert looking like a scarecrow next to you and ruining your chances."

"Jeremy would never…" she started protesting, but Damon just left her standing and ventured over to one of the racks containing suits. "Which size?" Anna crossed her arms and scowled at him. "I thought you had an eye for it?" she mocked. "I do. But little Gilbert isn`t really worth looking at in my opinion." he shot back. Anna just shook her head with a sigh and told him Jeremy`s size, reasoning that a discussion would lead her nowhere.

After about two hours they headed back to the parking lot. "What is Alaric going to say about you buying him a suit?" Anna asked once they were back in the car. "I guess he`s going to bitch at me, maybe throw a tantrum. He doesn`t like to be reminded about his lacking sense of style." the other vampire mused with a shrug. "You like pissing him off, don´t you?" Anna suspected. Damon looked at her out oft he corner of his eye and she could see his smirk. "One word honey: Make-up-sex." he whispered conspiratorially and she had to smile despite herself.

"You`re mental, you know that?" she told him. "Like you can talk. If I remember correctly you were stalking little Gilbert." the older Salvatore shot back and she felt her face heat. "That… was a long time ago." she muttered. "No need to be ashamed. We`re predators. And while I can`t really understand your choice…" He sounded completely honest, but she could see that he was stifling a grin. She hit him on the arm and muttered: "Idiot.", but she couldn`t contain a smile herself. Maybe Damon wasn`t all that bad…

###

While Damon and Anna were shopping, Ric and Jeremy worked their way through Shane`s documents. Jeremy really was rather helpful and Ric had to congratulate himself on his idea, while they worked. There were mostly different legends about Silas. All of them agreed that he was an immortal, who had been buried alive by a vengeful witch, because he had betrayed her. Afterwards the legends differed. One stated that he would rise again, to bring on hell on earth and reawaken the dead. The next one said something about a well of immortality, while another one said something about a weapon.

The research about the five hunters was better. The hunters had been "created" by a witch, who had given them superhuman strength and speed. Their whole purpose was killing vampires. Once a hunter had been awakened he could think of little else. It sounded like they were possessed or something. The notes also said that every hunter had a tattoo, a so-called hunters mark, which got bigger with every vampire he killed. Only hunters or potential hunters could see the mark. When a hunter died a new one would eventually take his place.

The paragraph about the hunters curse had Alaric a little worried. It said that whoever killed a hunter would be haunted by his ghost until he either killed himself or a new hunter was awakened. The legend hinted that only vampires were hit by the curse, but Ric thought it would be better not to risk it either way. Although Jeremy seemed more than willing to kill the hunter himself to protect Anna and his sister.

The teacher was almost glad when they were interrupted by the arrival of Stefan. There were still a few documents lying on the floor in front of him that he hadn`t looked through yet, but for the moment he had read more than enough. Still, nothing explained what the hell Shane actually planned or why he needed Bonnie.

"Where have you been?" Ric asked the younger Salvatore. Stefan put the cool bag down and took a seat on the couch. "I was at a slaughterhouse a good few miles away. Elena still has problems hunting, so I… got some animal blood for her." he explained quietly. Alaric eyed the cool box sceptically. Stefan obviously misunderstood, because he offered him some of the blood. "No thanks. I… Damon and I agreed on human blood." he explained almost apologetically.

Stefan looked worried and seemed about to say something, but then thought better of it and asked where Damon was. "He`s shopping with Anna." Ric explained and had to laugh at Stefan`s dumbfounded expression. "You`re kidding me." Still laughing Ric shook his head. „No, it`s the truth." he assured and Jeremy nodded. "Why the hell does my brother…?" the younger Salvatore started, but didn`t get to finish the sentence, because suddenly the front door opened. Damon and Anna strolled in, both loaded with shopping bags and grinning like Cheshire cats. It looked like they`d actually had fun, which surprised Ric a little.

"I got you a present." Damon sing-songed, walking towards his boyfriend. He greeted him with a quick kiss, before pressing a shopping bag into his hands. The teacher looked inside and then looked up at Damon in surprise. "You bought me a suit?" Damon grinned. "Of course I did. I want to show off my hot boyfriend at the pageant. After all, it is the most important social event this week." Ric shook his head with a fond smile. "You`re nuts." he murmured, looking at the suit again. It was charcoal-grey and looked rather expensive.

Meanwhile Anna had joined her boyfriend and told him that she had found the perfect dress. "And we bought a suit for you as well. I wasn`t sure if you had one and Damon insisted." Jeremy wasn`t sure what to think about that. Damon had already made it pretty clear that he thought Jeremy had no style. But Anna was beaming and she looked so happy that he couldn`t be mad either. "Come on, I`ll show you my dress." she enthused and dragged him upstairs.

Stefan looked at his brother in shock. "You were really shopping? With Anna?" Damon flopped down on the couch and pretended to pout. "Ric forced me to do it." he claimed. "Come on, it was practically your idea. And it looked like you had fun." the teacher pointed out, taking a seat next to him. Damon shrugged. "Well… it was okay, I guess. She´s not as annoying as I thought. And she really needed my help. You should`ve seen the dress she would have chosen. Thanks to me she actually has a chance of winning this thing."

"Winning what?" Stefan wanted to know. "She`s competing for Miss Mystic Falls." Damon let him know, frowning at the cool box, his brother had just picked up again. "Stefan went to a slaughterhouse and got some animal blood for Elena." Ric explained. Damon made a disgusted face. „Now you`re forcing bottled stuff onto her? Like fresh isn`t bad enough already."

"Shut up. I already told you once: I will do anything in my might to prevent Elena from having to go through what I did. If she only drinks animal blood right from the beginning she´ll get used to it much more easily." Stefan insisted. Damon snorted. "You`re kidding yourself. This is never going to work. If you keep going like this she`ll end up just like you. And deep down you know that." he shot back. Which only served to heaten Stefan`s anger. "Shut up! You think you know everything, but you have no idea what Elena is going through at the moment. So stay away from her. It`s bad enough you`re forcing Alaric to drink human blood."

Ric could feel Damon tense beside him. He seemed seconds away from attacking his brother. The teacher quickly grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze, before turning to the younger Salvatore. "Damon isn`t forcing me to do anything. We talked about it and I decided for myself that human blood is the better option. It was my decision." he stated calmly. "If he wanted to drink animal blood I would let him." Damon grumbled.

Stefan`s eyes darted from Damon to Ric in surprise. He seemed at a loss for words. "Okay. I should put that in the freezer." he mumbled finally. "Yeah, do that. But we need to discuss something with you. About that hunter." Damon remembered. His brother looked at him quizzically, but promised to come back straight away.

As soon as he had left the room, Alaric scooted closer to Damon and kissed him softly. "What was that for? I didn`t say anything, so there was no need to shut me up." the dark-haired commented. "Just a thank you. For leaving the decision to me. And for your patience." Ric explained. The older vampire smiled a little sheepishly. Searching for a snarky reply and finding none, he decided to kiss his boyfriend again.

They broke apart when Stefan cleared his throat to indicate that he was back. The younger Salvatore looked uncomfortable, his eyes darting around the room nervously. Damon ordered him to sit down and asked: "Okay… how exactly did you kill that hunter?" The younger one looked at him in surprise.

"Well, actually… I didn`t kill him. Klaus did. He had offered his help, like I told you. I was a little suspicious, but I thought he wanted to protect his remaining hybrids. Or Caroline. And I could use some help, so… He said we should split up. So I drove to the Lockwood's in case the hunter should show up there again. But then Klaus called and told me that he had already taken care of the hunter and I shouldn`t worry."

Damon and Alaric shared a quick look and Stefan wanted to know what that was all about. "Well, it looks like Klaus lied to you. He didn`t kill the guy, he held him captive. The hunter is still very much alive. And to make matters worse, he escaped." the older Salvatore explained. "What? But why should Klaus…? And how do you even know that?" Stefan wanted to know, now completely puzzled. "We saw the hunter. At Whitmore College." Ric explained and Damon added: „And we heard him talking to Professor Shane on the phone. The professor sent him here."

"Professor Shane? The guy who´s helping Bonnie?" the younger Salvatore asked. Alaric nodded. "He plans something. It`s no coincidence that he`s here and that he`s helping Bonnie. He needs her for something." he told Stefan. "So that´s what you were doing yesterday? Stalking Shane." Stefan murmured almost to himself. "He told Bonnie you had threatened him. She´s pretty angry at you." Okay that explained the dark looks she had given them earlier. The professor was trying to rile her up. And it seemed to be working.

"We didn´t threaten him. We only asked him a few questions." Damon clarified. Ric chose not to remind him, that he had also accused Shane of mass murder. "And what did you find out?" Stefan wanted to know. „Not much, except that the guy is a total psycho who set a killer on us." Damon grumbled. "We made copies of some documents from his office. Jeremy and I started looking through them earlier. It looks like Shane is totally obsessed with some legend about a guy named Silas. I can`t say what he wants, yet. But I found out some interesting stuff about the hunter." Ric spoke up again.

Damon urged him to go on, so he told the Salvatores what he had read about the five hunters. "Wait a second, that means we can`t even kill him?" the older Salvatore asked. "That´s exactly what it means." Ric confirmed. „Klaus must`ve known. Why else should he keep the guy alive and lie to me about it?" Stefan mused. "Klaus is ancient. He knows lots of stuff. And it´s typical of him to keep his knowledge to himself." Damon agreed.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" the younger Salvatore asked the most obvious question. "We have to tell the others that the hunter is still alive and that they can`t kill him. I`m afraid he might be on his way here. Maybe he`s already here again." Alaric murmured. Stefan nodded and promised to inform the others. „But be careful how much you tell Bonnie. She seems to trust Shane and I`m not sure she`d believe us." the teacher warned. The younger Salvatore wasn`t happy about this, but after a few more discussions he agreed to keep the witch mostly in the dark for now.

Since it had gotten pretty late Alaric packed up the documents and went to the Grill with Damon. Obviously their kiss was still the town gossip, because there were whispers all around and Ric could practically feel most of the other patrons staring at them. Matt was watching them, too and it was really starting to grate on the teacher`s nerves.

Damon however enjoyed the attention and fuelled the speculations by leaning close to Ric to whisper in his ear or touching him all the time. But when Ric said that he wanted to leave he relented. They drove to the Gilbert home, where they discussed their plans for the next day, before going to bed early.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning Damon woke up alone in bed. Frowning he got up and went down to the kitchen, where Alaric was just making coffee, or rather wrestling with the machine. With a fond smile Damon pushed him to the side and got the coffee started. "The kids all spent the night at the boarding house." Ric let him know. "And they couldn`t tell us? We wouldn`t have had to be quiet." the dark-haired vampire grumbled. "You can`t be quiet." Ric pointed out with a grin, dropping a quick kiss on his boyfriend`s lips. "Like you can talk." Damon shot back.

Ric smacked him on the ass and told him to sit down, while he poured two cups of coffee. He wondered a little at how normal this felt. Like they had been a couple for years already. Maybe it was because they knew each other that well. They had been friends for some time and they had experienced quite a lot together. Or maybe they had just been waiting so long for something like this. They´d had to lose each other to finally get to this point. Maybe they could enjoy it even more now, because of everything that had led them here.

Before he could follow that train of thought any further the beeping of Damon`s cell phone cut through his musings. "A text from Liz. She wants us to come to the Lockwood mansion in two hours. Council meeting." the dark-haired vampire read. "Council meeting? But most of the council was… blown up." Ric wondered, taking a seat next to his boyfriend. "Well, I guess the council now means us, Liz and Carol. Which could prove really useful for us." Damon mused. "You mean a pro-vampire council?"

"Exactly. That´s good. This explosion was the best thing that could`ve happened." Ric wanted to protest that the death of 12 people was never a good thing. After all he had known all of them and liked at least a few of them. But he had to admit that it had solved a lot of problems for them. "I wouldn`t put it like that, but… you may have a point there." he mumbled. "I knew you`d agree with me." the older vampire said with a grin.

After finishing their coffee they showered together and got dressed. Ric had discovered that Damon had secretly cleared one of his drawers, so he could store some clothes at the teacher`s bedroom. He hadn`t mentioned it and instead retaliated by clearing one of the drawers in Damon´s bedroom and storing some of his own clothes there. He wasn`t sure if Damon had noticed yet. Once they were dressed they made their way to the Lockwood estate.

Carol Lockwood opened the door, greeted them with a nod and disappeared down the hallway again. She seemed a little stressed. Shrugging it off the two vampires wanted to follow her, but when Ric tried to step over the threshold he stumbled back like he had walked into an invisible wall. "Oh fuck." he muttered. He hadn`t thought of that. And Damon obviously hadn`t either. "Uhmm Carol?" She turned around, surprised that the men hadn`t followed her and were still standing in front of the door. "You need to invite me in." Alaric said sheepishly.

Mrs. Lockwood looked like she didn`t know what he was talking about. But then she obviously got it, because she gasped in shock. "Does that mean you…? Oh my god." Ric had trouble meeting her horrified stare. They should`ve told her and Liz on his first day back that he was now a vampire. But this fact hadn`t fit in with any of Damon´s weird stories to explain his resurrection. The teacher cast a nervous glance at his boyfriend, silently pleading for help.

Damon cursed inwardly for not having thought of this earlier. So it was time for another one of his famous spontaneous ideas. "It´s not his fault, Carol. He didn`t chose this. It was forced onto him." he just started talking. „See… the guy who held him captive obviously thought it would be hilarious to turn a vampire hunter into a vampire. I think he was some sort of mad scientist." Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Ric nodding and he thanked his lucky stars that the teacher had become a rather decent liar.

"That`s horrible." Carol exclaimed sympathetically. "Please, come in Alaric." Ric gave her a grateful smile and stepped over the threshold. "Why didn`t you tell us straight away?" the Mayor wanted to know, while she led the two vampires to her office, where the meeting would be held. "I guess I just didn`t know how to tell you." And that wasn`t even a lie.

"They kept something more from us, Liz." Carol stated accusingly when they entered her office. "Alaric is a vampire. That lunatic, who held him captive turned him against his will." she repeated Damon´s story. Sheriff Forbes looked just as shocked as she had and Ric had a hard time trying not to squirm under her intense gaze. "I know I should have told you straight away. But you don`t need to worry. Damon is helping me cope." the teacher assured. "Ric´s got it under control. He won´t hurt anyone." the dark-haired vampire agreed.

Liz didn`t look convinced, but she nodded. "Alright. But I`ll keep an eye on you." she warned. Alaric breathed a sigh of relief. He could live with that. But Mrs. Lockwood already posed the next question: "Why didn`t you tell us about your relationship? The whole town is talking about you. And how long has that been going on? We were already wondering how we could`ve overlooked it all this time." she muttered. "We really just got together after Ric´s return. And we weren`t planning on outing us so soon. It was spontaneous." Damon explained with a smirk.

Ric wanted to add something, but the words died on his tongue when he suddenly noticed the third woman in the room. "Meredith." he choked. Dr. Meredith Fell gave him a sad smile. "Alaric. It`s good to see you." He had no idea what to say. He hadn`t expected to see his ex-girlfriend here and he felt a little guilty when he realized that he had wasted no thought on her since his return.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked and Ric thought he could hear a trace of jealousy in his voice. "Since we`re a little low on members thanks to the recent tragedy, we decided to take on Dr. Fell as a new council member. She seemed a good choice, since she already knows the secrets of this town and she´s also a member of a founding family." Carol Lockwood explained and Damon had to bite his tongue to refrain from commenting on that. He wasn`t pleased about the fact that Ric`s ex would now be sitting in every council meeting, eyeing his boyfriend.

"Interesting. You got some more surprises for us?" he asked sarcastically. Liz gave him a look that clearly told him she wasn`t too fond of his surprises either. "There is one more new member, if that`s what you`re asking." Great. "Who is it?" the older vampire wanted to know. "Rudy Hopkins. Bonnie Bennett´s father." Damon and Ric shared a quick look. Neither had had much dealings with Bonnie´s father yet. Ric only knew him from a few parent-teacher-conferences. "How much does he know?"

"He knows nothing about you, Damon. And I think we should keep it that way." Liz warned. "A vampire-hater then." the dark-haired vampire guessed. No-one commented on that. This was just getting better. "Does he know that his daughter is a witch?" Alaric spoke up again. "I don´t think so. But I`m not sure. You should ask Bonnie. And chose your words carefully in front of Mr. Hopkins." Carol warned. Well, that at least was nothing new. Damon and Ric had always had to choose their words carefully around other council members.

Shortly after the discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Hopkins. Damon decided instantly that he didn`t like the guy. And he liked him even less when Hopkins suggested putting vervaine into the water supply, to out hidden vampires. Luckily Carol was able to talk him out of it. Aside from that it was a typical boring council meeting. Everyone agreed that there were no vampires in Mystic Falls at the moment. The only difference to other meetings was the fact that they were now only lying to one member, instead of a whole dozen.

Once the meeting was over, Carol Lockwood offered everyone a drink. Damon was glad when Bonnie`s father declined and went back to work. After he had left the sheriff turned towards the two vampires. "Okay, how´s it really going? As far as I can tell Klaus is keeping a low profile at the moment. The other originals seem to have left town or at least are in hiding. What do you think?" Damon and Ric agreed with her as far as the originals were concerned. They told her what they had found out about Shane and the hunter. "You need to warn Bonnie." Liz adviced.

"I don`t think she`d believe us. And we don`t know how much influence Shane already has on her. We could make it worse." Alaric pointed out. "What does that guy want?" Carol asked. "We don`t know yet. But we`re working on it." the teacher assured. "Okay. I`ll set my deputies on the hunter. I`m going to tell them that he`s armed and highly dangerous. And crazy. Maybe we can get him, before he gets the chance to do more damage." Sheriff Forbes decided. "And then what? You`ll lock him up? Because that worked so well for Klaus." Damon reminded her.

"We need to do something. And maybe my deputies have a little more experience with prisoners than Klaus' men." Ric had to admit that she was right. Even Damon had to agree. Since they couldn`t simply kill the hunter they didn`t have much of an alternative. Carol admitted that she had enlisted Shane`s help for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. He would be awarding a scholarship. But no-one seemed too worried about that. He could hardly cause much trouble there.

Ric and Damon left shortly after, but Meredith caught up to them, just as they reached the driveway. She wanted to talk to Alaric in private. Ric knew that Damon wasn`t happy about it. But he felt that he owed her at least an explanation, so he followed her to her car, making sure that they stayed within hearing distance of his boyfriend. He didn`t want to give Damon reason to get jealous.

"Mrs. Lockwood told me the story of your doppelgänger. Very creative, I`ve got to admit. But I don`t believe it for a second." Meredith said. Of course she wouldn`t believe it. She knew too much. His evil alter ego had tried to kill her, after all. And still she had tried to help him. If someone deserved the truth it was her. "When a vampire… dies he is send to some sort of… otherworld. There`s a veil separating that world from ours and… Damon found a witch who brought me back." he tried to explain.

"So you really died." It wasn`t actually a question, but he nodded anyway. He had actually died quite a few times, but she didn`t need to know that. "I`m a vampire so… I guess technically I am dead. Well, undead." he shrugged. Meredith nodded thoughtfully. "I won`t tell anyone. Don´t worry." she promised. "I know." And he did know it. He could trust her.

Meeting her eyes he searched for words, trying to explain his relationship with Damon, without sounding like he was apologizing for loving the dark-haired vampire. He had no idea where to start. But it turned out that he didn`t have to say anything. "I guess I always knew that your heart belonged to someone else." Meredith admitted. "And since that night in the crypt, when you… died or turned or whatever… I also knew who it belonged to." Ric felt at a loss for words. "I`m not mad at you Alaric. You deserve to be happy. And if he makes you happy…".

"He does." Alaric assured her. "Then I wish you all the best." She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Meredith." Ric watched while she got into her car. He was glad they parted on good terms. She was a great woman and an important ally and he hoped they could at least stay friends.

Damon had his back turned to him and didn`t say a word when Ric re-joined him. The teacher wrapped his arms around the dark-haired vampire from behind and gently kissed his neck. "Since things are cleared up with my ex now… why don´t we go home?" Damon leaned back against him and nodded. "Your place or mine?" he joked. "Whatever you want." Alaric shot back. Damon chuckled and chose the boarding house.

###

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Alaric had thought about going through the rest of Shane`s stuff, but Damon kept him from doing that. Reasoning that he only had about 10 pages or so to go anyway, Ric decided to postpone it and instead focused on his boyfriend. When it started to get dark Stefan, Anna and Jeremy showed up, having fled from the Gilbert home, where Elena was hosting a spontaneous pyjama-party.

Anna and Jeremy used the chance to practice the dance for the pageant some more. Stefan helped them, while Damon and Ric watched from their place on the couch. Of course Damon couldn`t keep his mouth shut for long and had to make snide remarks. Jeremy tried to ignore him and concentrate on Anna, but the damn vampire knew how to push his buttons.

"Why don`t you just shut up?" Jeremy growled after Damon had interrupted Stefan`s instructions for the third time in a row. "Okay, if you want to make a fool of yourself in front of everyone tomorrow…" the dark-haired vampire muttered. Jeremy saw Alaric whisper something to him, but he doubted his guardian could keep him in line. Damon was just an ass sometimes and there was no reasoning with him.

Stefan seemed to know this, too, because he heaved a resigned sigh and flopped down into an armchair. "Fine, Damon. If you`re so much better, then why don`t you help them?" he suggested. Jeremy glared at him. That was really the last thing he needed right now. Again Ric was whispering something in Damon´s ear and the older vampire nodded, before getting up and taking Stefan`s place.

"Alright, get in position." he ordered. Jeremy obeyed reluctantly, reminding himself silently that he was doing all this for Anna. "Not like that. Your palms don`t touch. There hast o be a small space between them." the dark-haired vampire scoffed imediately. "But that doesn`t make sense." the young Gilbert complained. Seriously, who had invented the stupid dance? And why did they have to do it? Couldn`t they just do a waltz or something?

"Of course it makes sense. This dance was invented in a time where touching in public was a big thing. You can`t imagine that now, but back then kissing a girl in public could get you in serious trouble. People back then were fucking prudes. Even holding hands was frowned upon." the older Salvatore explained. Jeremy looked over at Anna who nodded. "Okay, so space between the palms. Like this?" the teen asked. "Exactly. And now you move around each other, while your hands remain in positon." Damon instructed.

Jeremy and Anna did as told, switching hands for the next part of the dance. The Gilbert-boy had to admit – albeit grudgingly – that they did a lot better this time. "Okay, better." Damon agreed with him. „But don`t stare off into space. Look at her. Look at her eyes. The intimacy oft he dance is all in the way you look at each other." Jeremy bit back a comment and looked at Anna, noting her soft smile and answering it with a smile of his own. Only now he realized what this dance reminded him of.

When Anna had been a ghost they had done this. Put their palms almost against each other, pretending they could feel each other. Suddenly the whole thing took on a wholly different meaning. From far away he heard Damon´s voice: "Dancing is like sex. Foreplay, anticipation of what is to come, almost-touches, making the air around you vibrate with tension, while your eyes do all the talking…"

Anna noticed the change in Jeremy`s breathing and heartbeat and knew that he was thinking the same thing as her. All of a sudden this wasn`t just some stupid dance. It was their story. Kept apart by a veil they couldn`t see, unable to feel each other. Forced to rely on looks and not touches. She remembered the happiness of having Jeremy back in her life. How hard it was not being able to touch him. Until he managed the impossible and pulled her back into the world of the living. When Jeremy finally took her hand and placed his other hand on her hip she remembered their first embrace after being back. She felt the same rush of excitement.

"That`s more like it." Damon`s voice cut through her reverie, starlting her and she noticed that the dance and the music had ended. Jeremy looked at Damon and rolled his eyes when he noticed the Salvatore`s smug expression. Great, Damon would never let him live this down. But the teen also noticed that he wasn`t the only one watching Damon. Stefan was staring at his brother like he had never seen him before and Ric was watching him with an almost proud grin.

"Well, I think that`s enough for now. It`s late. I should really go to bed." Anna decided, drawing Jeremy`s attention back to her. He could see the look in her eyes which told him she wasn`t thinking about sleep and he readily agreed. "You`re right. We should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. So good night everyone."

Alaric had to stifle a grin while he watched the two oft hem disappear upstairs. Seconds later he heard the tell-tale sound of a body hitting the closed door. Obviously the had taken Damon` s words about dancing and foreplay to heart. But Ric couldn`t deny that he felt a little overheated as well. "We should go to bed as well, don`t you think?" he asked, looking at his boyfriend. Damon fixed him with an almost predatory grin and was dragging him towards the stairs, before he had time to protest. Not that he wanted to protest.

Both called a quick good night in Stefan`s direction, before heading upstairs, never noticing how the younger Salvatore`s eyes followed them. Ric could hear moans coming from the direction of Anna`s room, but he ignored them and concentrated only on Damon.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning Alaric was the one who woke up alone in bed. Downstairs in the kitchen Damon was already making breakfast. Jeremy and Stefan were seated at the table, talking quietly. The teacher greeted them with a smile, kissed his boyfriend and took a seat. Jeremy pretended he hadn`t seen the kiss, but Stefan was watching his brother and Ric thoughtfully.

"Anna has been in the bathroom for over an hour, despite the fact that I told her three times she has enough time to get ready at the Lockwood's." the teen grumbled. Ric remembered the last Miss Mystic Falls pageant. He had been dating Jenna back then and had played chauffeur for her and Elena. It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then. His life had changed so much. He noticed that Stefan was strangely silent and wondered if the younger Salvatore was remembering the last pageant as well. He had snapped and almost killed a girl, so today surely brought no happy memories for him.

Damon piled their plates high with pancakes, before marching towards the stairs and hollering: "Anna! If you want breakfast you`ve got five minutes tops to get your ass down here!" Then he returned to the kitchen like nothing had happened. "Maybe you should adopt her. Looks like you`re getting used to the job of being her guardian." Ric commented with a grin. Damon sat down next to him and punched his shoulder none too gently. "Oh shut up. Better take care of your own protégé here." The teacher winked at Jeremy, who grinned back at him.

About three minutes later Anna finally made it to the table as well. Ric couldn`t see much difference to how she usually looked, but decided to keep that thought to himself. "I have no idea why I`m so nervous. It`s no big deal." the girl muttered. "Elena was nervous as well, when she competed the last time." Jeremy tried to comfort his girlfriend, with little success.

"Have you drunk enough blood? We wouldn`t want you to eat the other girls." Damon warned when Anna was about to head out. She gave him a dark look and told him to stop treating her like a child, since she was in fact older than he was. "If necessary she can drink from me." Jeremy chimed in. Alaric thought that he should probably object to that. He was the kid´s guardian after all and should be concerned about his well-being. On the other hand it was really none of his business what happened between the kid and his girlfriend. So he kept his mouth shut. After about 15 minutes of running up and down the stairs Anna was sure she had everything she needed and left with her boyfriend in tow.

Stefan left as well, after fetching a bottle of animal blood for Elena. Damon and Alaric spent a few quiet hours lounging around the boarding house, before getting dressed for the party. The teacher had to admit that his boyfriend had chosen a beautiful suit for him. The dark fabric felt soft and cool against his skin and fit him perfectly. The white shirt and light-blue tie proved a nice contrast to the dark grey of his suit.

He cast a quick look into the mirror and then turned to Damon, who couldn`t take his eyes off the teacher. "Like what you see?" Alaric teased. The older vampire smirked. "Hmm, a lot. I should buy you clothes more often." Ric only laughed at that and pulled Damon closer. The dark-haired vampire looked gorgeous in his dark suit. Their lips met and suddenly Ric found himself pressed against the closed door. His hands skimmed under Damon`s jacket, gently stroking his back.

"If we keep going like this we`ll never make it to the pageant." he warned, once their lips had parted. "We still have time. And even if we`re late… who cares?" Damon shrugged it off and pushed the jacket off Ric`s shoulders. The teacher really intended to argue his point, but Damon`s lips started ghosting over his throat and the protest died on his lips.

###

Meanwhile Anna was sitting in front of a mirror at the Lockwood mansion, wrestling with her hair. She still felt nervous and jittery and started wondering if it had been such a good idea to enter in the competition. What the hell had she been thinking? The other girls were talking behind her back and giving her weird looks. Thanks to her enhanced hearing Anna knew that they were mostly bitching about the fact that she wasn`t from a founding family.

"Oh god, I feel like I`m about to puke." the dark-haired girl next to her muttered. "Yeah, me too." the vampire admitted, looking over at her. The brunette gave her a slight smile. "Well, that`s good to hear. At least I`m not the only one." she joked, before introducing herself as April. "I`m Anna." the vampire muttered, turning away from the mirror and facing April completely. The other girls were gossiping about her as well. She was the daughter of Pastor Young, who had blown himself up.

"I`m sorry about your father." Anna murmured a little awkwardly. "Thanks." was the automatic reply and she wondered how often April had heard these words in the last couple of days. She felt bad for the girl. After all, she could relate. "My mom died not long ago." April gave her a surprised look. "Oh, that`s … I`m sorry." she stammered.

For a moment there was an awkward silence, only broken by the chatter of the other girls. "How do you handle it?" April wanted to know after a while. Anna shrugged. "I don`t know. Sometimes it feels unreal, you know? Like she`s just out of town or something. Until I remember that she`ll never come back." She had spent almost 150 years without her mother and could look after herself. But back then Pearl had been locked away in the tomb and Anna had always known that they would see each other again. Now her mother was gone for good.

"I know what you mean. I`ve barely seen my dad over the last few years. I was at boarding school. We only spent the holidays together." April told her. "But it`s different, knowing he`ll never come back." Anna muttered. The other girl nodded. "It is. And it`s strange to be back here. I was only here for Christmas in the last few years. I don`t really know anyone. I live with my uncle now, but I can`t shake the feeling that he`s not happy about me being here." April sounded desolate.

"I live with friends of my mom. The Salvatores. They`re okay, but it`s still weird. I spent a few month here with my mom, but aside from my boyfriend Jeremy I don`t know anyone either." At least that was the official story they had come up with. "Jeremy Gilbert, right? His sister used to be my babysitter." April let her know. Anna nodded. "Yeah, he`s my escort today. I don`t know what I`d do without him." Just thinking about Jeremy made her smile. "And who´s escorting you?"

"Matt Donovan. You may know him. He works at the Grill with Jeremy." April explained. "Yes, I`ve met him. He seems nice." She hadn`t had much dealings with Matt so far, but he seemed like a good guy. "He`s really nice. He offered to be my escort. I`ve known him since I was a kid. Back when he was still dating Elena I had a little crush on him." April admitted and blushed. Anna grinned. "He`s kinda cute." she mused.

"Yeah, he is, isn`t he? But Jeremy`s cute, too." April murmured. "I meant… I don`t want to steal him away from you or anything. Just saying." she hastenend to add, blushing even harder. Strangely enough Anna didn`t feel jealous at all. Jeremy loved her more than anything. She knew that. "It`s okay, I didn`t think that. There must be a lot of girls who think he`s cute. I mean, he`s totally cute, so…" she shrugged and was almost glad when the arrival of Caroline and Elena interrupted their talk.

The two girls came to check on April. "Do you need help with your hair or make-up?" Elena asked kindly. April nodded, seemingly glad for the help. Anna turned back to the mirror, not wanting to intrude. Maybe she should just give up on her hair. "Are you wearing your hair like that?" The dark-haired vampire noticed with surprise that Caroline was standing behind her, giving her a critical once-over.

"I was thinking about doing it up…" Anna murmured hesitantly. She wasn`t used to people paying attention to her. And she didn`t even know the blonde. Therefore Caroline`s next words took her completely by surprise: "Need some help?" Hesitating only a little, Anna nodded. It couldn`t hurt, she reasoned. Caroline was like a living Barbie doll, so she most likely knew what she was doing. And really, after only about 10 minutes Anna`s hair was done up beautifully. "Wow, thanks." she whispered. Caroline grinned at her, before taking her leave.

Elena was still busy doing April`s make-up, so Anna got up and quietly left the room. She found Jeremy out in the hallway. "Wow, you look amazing." he whispered and she felt herself blushing. "Thanks." she muttered a little self-consciously. "You were talking to April?" Jeremy changed the subject, obviously noticing her discomfort. "Yeah, she`s nice." Anna was surprised how easy it had been to talk to the brunette. She had always been a loner. Had always kept her distance and been shunned by others.

It had never bothered her before. She had always taken comfort in the thought that she would get her mother back one day and then she`d never have to be alone again. Until then there had been aquaintances and fools she had compelled to do her bidding. But now her mother was gone for good. She had Jeremy, but she couldn`t cling to him 24/7. It would be nice to have a friend.

"I`ll be waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Good luck." Jeremy`s voice cut through her musings. Anna smiled at him and watched him walk back downstairs with his sister in tow. She took a deep breath and then returned to the other contestants. Maybe she could talk to April again, before the pageant started.


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks for the lovely Reviews. Glad to see someone is still reading and liking this.

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In the meantime Damon and Alaric had finally made it to the Lockwood mansion as well. It looked like they were the last guests to arrive. The place was already packed. Ric tried to ignore the stares and whispers as he followed his boyfriend out into the garden. They watched in amusement how Caroline flitted from one place to the next, making adjustments and barking orders. "She helped Mrs. Lockwood with the organisation." a voice behind them spoke up. "Matt, good to see you." Ric greeted the blond barkeeper.

He was glad that Matt had obviously gotten over his shock and was treating them normally again. "Just watching her makes me all the more nervous." Matt commented, still watching Caroline. "Why are you nervous? In the running for Miss Mystic as well?" Damon needled, but Matt simply shook his head. "I`m April`s escort." he explained. "Which means I`ll have to dance with her in front of all these people."

"I`m sure you`ll do great." Ric tried to cheer him up. "Weren`t you supposed to be Caroline`s escort when she was competing? Since Caroline leaves nothing to chance I`m sure you`ve practiced this dance often enough." The barkeeper agreed with a laugh, just as the blonde vampire in question showed up to herd him inside. "I need to talk to you. About Bonnie." she whispered, after Matt had left. "But not today. I`ve got my hands full with the pageant and then I also have to make time for Klaus." Damon and Ric looked at her quizzically. "Why do you have to make time for Klaus?" the dark-haired vampire asked. "He`s kinda my date. Long story. I`ll tell you tomorrow, okay?"

Not giving them a chance to reply she headed off again to order some waiters around. "I don`t care what you say. That girl is nuts." Damon commented. Ric on the other hand was a little worried. If Caroline wanted to talk about Bonnie it couldn`t be good. But his boyfriend didn`t give him a chance to dwell on it. "Hey, it`s starting." he suddenly noticed, grabbing Ric`s hand and dragging him towards the stage to watch.

On stage Carol Lockwood was just welcoming the guests, before introducing Caroline as the reigning Miss Mystic Falls. Seconds later the blonde walked onstage to introduce this year`s contestants and Ric was starting to wonder if she was using vampire speed. If she did, at least no-one seemed to have noticed. He and Damon watched the contestants, who were led to the dance floor by their respective escorts. Of course Damon had to provide a running commentary and unfortunately he wasn`t doing it as quietly as Ric would have liked. The four old ladies to their right were giving him dark looks, but he didn`t appear to notice.

Anna was the second to last. She was wearing a long, burgundy dress, which highlighted her soft curves and had her hair done up beautifully. "Now that´s a dress!" Damon commented, clearly pleased with his choice. Ric had to admit that the colour highlighted Anna`s pale skin and dark hair perfectly. The four old ladies on the other hand found it too sexy and complained loudly about the slit. "Boring old hags." Damon spat loud enough for them to hear. Once again they were glaring daggers at him.

Ric didn`t say anything. Instead he watched April Young entering the dance-floor with Matt. "Uptight, boring… I bet Elena picked that." Damon commented upon seeing April`s simple blue dress. This time the old ladies weren`t the only ones who glared at the vampire. Elena, who was standing a few feet away, looked like she wanted to throttle him as well. "I think you`re right about that." Ric agreed.

Just like he had expected Matt did rather well on the dance-floor. But Anna and Jeremy looked good as well. "Looks like Stefan`s tutoring helped." Alaric whispered and applauded along with the rest of the audience once the dance had ended. "Come on, let`s get a drink. I`m in no mood to listen to those girls yapping about their achievements for society." Damon mocked. Alaric followed him to the bar, not even trying to hide his grin, while the four old ladies scoffed that some people just had no manners and should better stay away from cultural events such as this one.

The two vampires got Bourbon from the bar and took a stroll through the lavishly decorated garden. Alaric was glad that everyone seemed interested in the pageant and they weren`t being stared at for a change. Unfortunately they weren`t the only ones who took no interest in the contestant`s interviews.

Klaus had obviously decided on a little walk as well and was now heading towards them with an all too friendly smile. "Now, look what we`ve got here. I already heard about your mysterious resurrection. Rather impressive, I have to admit." he told Alaric. "Well, yeah, but don`t worry. I would still love to kill you, but since there`s a high possibility that it would kill Damon as well I`m going to hold back." the teacher assured with a false smile.

Klaus laughed. "Yes indeed. You wouldn`t risk the life of your lover, now would you? Not that it would matter. You´re no match for me." he stated arrogantly. Ric didn`t mention that Klaus had in fact been very scared of his evil alter ego. Provoking the original would lead nowhere. Since they couldn`t kill him they`d just have to find a way to live with him. He also noticed that Klaus was rather well behaved for his standards. He probably didn`t want to upset Caroline.

"Shouldn`t you be watching the contestant´s interviews?" Damon asked in an attempt to get rid of the original. "I could ask you the same thing." Klaus shot back. "We`re only here because it`s expected of council members. And because of the free drinks." the dark-haired vampire admitted with a shrug. It was really no secret after all. "I`m only here because of the lovely Miss Forbes." Klaus explained, his eyes darting to the pretty blonde who was still doing interviews. "How did you manage that?" Damon wanted to know. It was no secret that Klaus fancied the blonde vampire. But it was also no secret that she usually brushed him off. If she wasn`t supposed to be distracting him, of course.

"I only offered her my support after Tyler´s… betrayal." the original claimed. When the other two just looked at him questioningly he pointed to a table a little off to the side, where Tyler was sitting next to a sluttily dressed brunette. "I guess you haven`t met his little wolf-friend, yet. Not surprising, really. She´s not exactly the type to show off, is she? I really have to say, I`m disappointed in Tyler. Caroline deserves better."

Ric didn`t reply. He couldn`t imagine Tyler cheating on Caroline. A few days ago everything had been okay between them and he was sure Caroline would have mentioned something. "She´s a werewolf?" he questioned when it became clear that Klaus was waiting for a reaction and that Damon had obviously decided to ignore the original. "Indeed. I must say, I`m surprised Caroline didn`t tell you. You`re not really up to date about what`s going on here, are you?" the original mocked.

"And I`m surprised you have the time to meddle in the love-life of a few teenagers, considering that you just lost a hunter, who´s probably already planning a revenge attack on you." Damon spoke up again. That finally wiped the smug grin off Klaus' face. "What do you know about the hunter?" he growled. "Oh, quite a few things actually. That he`s on the lose again. Who sent him here. And that we shouldn`t kill him, if we value our sanity."

"So you heard of the hunters curse." It wasn`t exactly a question, but the dark-haired vampire nodded anyway. "What`s so special about the guy to merit your interest? He can hardly kill you, can he?" Damon wanted to know. "You shouldn`t stick your nose into other people`s business. Both of you. And if you`ll excuse me now… Caroline is waiting." the original muttered, before stalking off, although Caroline was still busy on stage. "Not exactly informative." Damon commented. Ric only shrugged. He hadn`t expected anything different. But he wanted to know what was going on between Tyler and Caroline.

Damon didn`t really seem interested in that and Ric felt it wouldn`t be a good idea to ask Tyler, so he decided to wait. Caroline wanted to talk to them anyway. So they got another round of drinks, had a short talk with Liz, who told them that she had heard nothing about the hunter so far and then strolled around some more. For a few minutes they watched Anna`s interview, but quickly lost interest and instead went in search of a quiet corner, where they could wait for the end of the pageant.

They were just about to head inside, when Damon suddenly stopped and looked back into the garden. Ric followed his line of sight and spied Professor Shane talking to Tyler`s wolf-friend. The older vampire frowned, noticed Tyler standing a few feet away and went over to him. "Hey Lassie, how do those two know each other?" Tyler gave him an exasperated look. "They don`t. He started chatting her up. Paranoid much?"

"The weird professor shows up here, after most of the council got burnt to a crisp. We find out that he didn`t only chat regularly with the pastor, who most likely sparked the explosion, but also that he set a mysterious hunter on us. So, yes maybe I`m paranoid." Damon grumbled. The hybrid looked thoughtful. "What is your… friend doing here?" Ric chimed in. "Hayley? She´s just visiting me." Tyler mumbled. The teacher looked at him with raised eyebrows. "She helped me in the past and… it`s complicated, okay? Just stay out of it." the hybrid barked and ran off.

Ric and Damon shared a quick look and the dark-haired vampire shrugged. "I don`t even want to know." That whole teenager drama stuff wasn`t their business. They really had other things to worry about. So after one last look at the crazy professor they went inside and snuck into Mrs. Lockwood´s office. Damon raided her hidden mini-bar and they flopped down on the couch.

Unfortunately it didn`t take long for Carol to find them and scold them about being in her office. "The winner will be announced any time now. So go outside, make Smalltalk. And don`t ever sneak into my office again." she ordered. Grumbling the two vampires complied and went back outside to watch the crowning of the new Miss Mystic Falls.

Alaric really hoped Anna would win, but he wasn`t really surprised when she didn`t. She smiled anyway when she joined them along with Jeremy. "April Young. Come on. She only won because of all the pity votes she got for her dad blowing himself up." Damon snarked. Ric noticed that they had ended up standing right next to the four old ladies again, who were already glaring at his boyfriend once more. Anna on the other hand only shrugged. "That`s okay. I didn`t really want to win. Mama would be happy that I participated. And the dancing was fun."

"The judges are idiots. You were by far the prettiest girl up there." Jeremy assured his girlfriend, which caused Damon to roll his eyes and make gagging noises. The two teens decided to ignore him and walked away holding hands. Ric shook his head over his boyfriend´s behaviour. Sometimes Damon acted like a twelve year old.

The official part of the evening was over, but the party would be going on well into the night. Inside the buffet had been opened, waiters were rushing around, serving champagne and outside in the garden a band was playing next to the dance-floor. Damon and Ric wandered around and made Smalltalk like Carol had ordered. Some people assured Alaric how glad they were that the rumours of his death had turned out to be false. The school`s principal complimented Damon on his idea to let Anna participate in the pageant, since it included her in Mystic Falls society. In typical Damon fashion the dark-haired vampire accepted the compliment without mentioning that it had been Anna`s idea and not his.

There were still some people whispering behind their backs, but slowly the excitement about their relationship seemed to die down. They only noticed a few guys from the football team, who had a bet going on whether or not they would kiss in public again tonight. Damon suggested compelling them. "We could make them run naked across the stage. Or drop their pants in front of Carol Lockwood. Everyone would think they`re just drunk." Ric found the idea very tempting, but still stopped Damon from putting his plan into action. Damon declared him a total bore.

Aside from a few minor incidents the evening turned out really nice. Once it got dark thousands of fairy lights bathed the garden in an unearthly glow. Damon and Alaric retired into the shadow of a tree, from where they could watch the proceedings. Anna had pulled Jeremy onto the dance-floor again, Elena was dancing with Matt and even Klaus had managed to get Caroline to dance with him. Much to the dismay of Tyler, who was watching them angrily from the side, completely ignoring his friend Hayley.

"Dance with me." Ric looked at Damon in surprise. "What?" he asked. "Dance with me." the dark-haired vampire repeated. "No thanks." Ric declined with a smirk, returning his attention to the dancing couples. He thought his boyfriend was only joking. "Why not?" The teacher looked back at Damon, surprised to find him pouting. "Are you serious?" Damon nodded. "Of course I`m serious." And he really looked like he meant it. "I can`t dance, Damon. And there are so many people here."

"Back at that party at Whitmore College you danced with me." the dark-haired vampire reminded him. "That was different. For one, I was completely high on fresh blood and it wasn`t a waltz. And there were no onlookers." In the darkness of that house no-one had paid attention to them. Here they would be totally in the spotlight. But Damon obviously didn`t want to see that. "So? Let them stare. Doesn`t matter. Or are you ashamed of me?" Ric sighed. "No, of course not." he assured his boyfriend. "Then why don`t you want to dance with me? We kissed in the Grill. Everyone knows we`re together."

Finally Alaric realized that he had obviously hurt Damon´s feelings. And the older vampire was right. Everyone knew about them. Hadn`t he told Elena just a few days ago, that he didn`t want to keep his relationship secret? "Okay, fine. But I`m leading. And don`t complain when I step on your toes." he relented. Damon grinned and dragged him onto the dance-floor. Ric could hear the whispers all around, but tried to ignore them, while he took Damon´s hand and put his other hand on Damon`s hip.

"You lied. You do know how to dance." Damon mumbled after a while. "Mostly in theory." Alaric had learned how to dance for his wedding, but hardly ever used that knowledge. Isobel had never showed much interest. And he always felt a little off on the dance-floor. He always had the feeling everyone was staring at him. Tonight all the more. But at least it made Damon happy, which was enough compensation for him. Damon´s eyes were practically glowing and a soft smile was playing about his lips.

Alaric tore his eyes away from his boyfriend and glanced to the side, where he spied the four old ladies, who had been muttering about Damon all day. Once again they didn`t even try to conceal their disdain. Damon followed his line of sight and snorted. "Stupid old hags." he muttered darkly. They were really starting to annoy Alaric and he felt a stab of defiance. It really was nobody`s business who he decided to spend his life with. Without thinking about it too much he pulled Damon even closer and kissed him.

It was only a short, innocent kiss. Their lips parted all too soon and Ric`s eyes drifted back to the four old ladies. He gave them a challenging look and grinned when they quickly turned away. Damon chuckled. "I fear I`m a bad influence on you." The teacher chuckled as well. "Definitely." he agreed. Suddenly the whispers weren`t affecting him anymore. They could scoff all they wanted. What did those old hags know about him? And who cared about their opinion? The only thing that mattered was the happy smile on his boyfriend`s face.

"I love you." Damon`s eyes widened at hearing those three words and his smile got even bigger. The older vampire felt his heart skip a beat. This time it was a lot easier to respond in kind. "I love you too." Ric grinned and they let the music take them away. Damon was a little sad when the song ended, but allowed Ric to lead him off the dance-floor. There would be many more chances like this. In Mystic Falls there was usually a party every other week.

"I need a drink." the teacher decided, leaving his boyfriend standing next to the dance-floor. Damon called after him to bring him one as well and then winked at the four old ladies, who were staring yet again. They quickly turned away and he grinned. But he sobered quickly when he spied Stefan walking towards him. "I want to apologize." Stefan said, completely surprising the older Salvatore. "What?"

"I`m sorry that I was so suspicious and didn`t believe you, that you`re really serious about this thing with Alaric." the younger one explained. "I watched the two of you. Today and also in the last few days and… I can`t remember the last time I`ve seen you this happy." Damon felt at a loss for words. All the more so when Stefan pulled him into a hug, which he returned awkwardly. "I`m happy for you, Damon." Stefan assured. Damon pulled away a little uncomfortable and muttered a rather sheepish "Thanks.".

For a moment the two brothers stood staring at each other, until Damon decided to swallow his pride and apologize as well. "I`m sorry about the whole Elena-thing." Stefan beamed, gave him another hug and then went onto the dance-floor, to pull Elena from Matt`s arms. The barkeeper looked glad about it and quickly hurried off. Damon grinned when he heard Elena asking his brother if he was drunk. Yes, Stefan usually wasn`t a big fan of dancing either.

The older Salvatore jumped in shock when a strong arm wrapped around him from behind. He accepted the glass of Bourbon and leaned against Alaric with a sigh. "Stefan apologized." he told the teacher. "Yeah, I heard. I didn`t want to interrupt you." Damon watched his brother twirling Elena around and couldn`t help but smile. Maybe they could finally put the past behind them and just be brothers again. If he was completely honest with himself he had missed his baby brother. "Want to head home?" he asked. "My place or yours?" was Alaric´s immediate reply.


End file.
